PRESENTED BY 
JUDGE and HIS. ISAAC E. EH, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

- 1931 - 




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PRESENTED ISY 



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FOREIGN MISSIONARY; 



HIS FIELD AND HIS WORK. 



EEV. M> J. KNOWLTON, D.D., 

MISSIONARY TO CHINA. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

BIBLE AND PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 530 ARCH STREET. 
1S73. 






Gift from 

Judge s nd M' s - -^ a a c R - ****£ 
Nov. 17, 1931 



TO 



ALL CANDIDATES 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 



THIS WORK 13 



AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 



THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE. 



This book embodies the results of about 
eighteen years of personal experience and 
observation in the foreign mission field, as 
well as of much missionary reading and 
thinking. The works to which the author 
has been most indebted are, "The Great Com- 
mission, or the Christian Church Constituted 
and Charged to convey the Gospel to the 
World," by Rev. John Harris, D. D., and 
" Foreign " Missions, their Relations and 
Claims," by Eev. Rufus Anderson, D. D. 

The present stage of missionary progress, 
and the culture of the age, evidently require 
a more complete and scientific treatment of 
the missionary scheme, than that to be found 
in memoirs, or in sketches of particular fields? 
or in isolated addresses, sermons or appeals. 
The novelty and romance of missions have 
passed away. Hence, what is now demanded 



VI PREFACE. 



by intelligent Christian readers of missionary 
productions, is not merely amusing or thrilling 
narratives, nor pathetic appeals, nor grandilo- 
quent generalizations and speculations respect- 
ing the " glorious missionary enterprise," but 
reliable facts and fundamental principles. In 
the present work, the aim has been to present 
the main facts and principles of missions, in 
a plain but systematic and thorough manner, 
and at the same time the endeavor has been 
to give the whole as practical a bearing as 
possible. Appeal has been made not so much 
to the sympathies and emotions, as to Chris- 
tian principle and the spirit of obedience to 
Christ. The missionary enterprise, having 
passed through its difficult period of in- 
cipiency, its " heroic age," and nearly through 
its "played out" or "old story" period, 
seems now to be entering upon its fourth and 
most healthy and efficient stage of progress, in 
which missions shall be prosecuted, not from 
novelty or sympathy or spasmodic impulse, 
but from an abiding sense of obligation founded 
on the love of Christ and the will of God. 



PREFACE. Vll 

Some peculiarities in the style and mode of 
treatment of the subject of this work, are 
accounted for by the fact that the substance 
of it was originally delivered in the form of 
lectures before the students of several theolo- 
gical seminaries. 

It is the hope and prayer of the author, 
that this humble attempt to throw light upon 
some points and solve some problems con- 
nected with the work of missions, as well as 
add something to our missionary literature 
adapted to the age and to the present stage of 
missionary progress, may serve to deepen the 
missionary spirit, and stimulate zeal and ac- 
tivity in the great work of evangelizing the 
world, among both pastors and churches. 

M. J. K. 

Philadelphia, June 10th, 1872* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FUNDAMENTAL PLACE THAT MISSIONS HOLD IN THE CHRISTIAN 

ECONOMY. 

Introductory — Christianity and Missions identical in their Origin, and in 
their Object — Christ, the Model Missionary — All Preachers of the 
Gospel, Missionaries— Every Disciple of Christ, also a Missionary— A 
Christian Church, a Missionary Organization — Early Historical Develop- 
ment of Missions — Importance of Right Views on Missions 11-26 

CHAPTER II. 

DUTY OF PASTORS RESPECTING MISSIONS. 

It Devolves upon Pastors to promote Interest in Missions — They should 
possess a Missionary Spirit, and hold correct Views respecting Benevo- 
lence and Missions — Lack of Interest among Pastors, the chief Cause 
of Apathy in Churches — Pastors should teach the Unconverted their 
duty to become Christians that they may Work for God — Tlie Church 
should be taught her Mission, and the Law of Beneficence — It is the 
office of the Pastor to keep the Church Informed on Missions, by means 
of Missionary Reading, Missionary Sermons, and the Monthly Con- 
cert— He ought to seek out Men for the Ministry, and for the Mis- 
sionary Work— Parents should be taught their Duty respecting Mis- 
sions — All the Members of the Church should be kept at Work for 
Christ 27-52 

CHAPTER III. 

THE KIND OF MEN REQUIRED FOR THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK. 

The Foreign Missionary should possess a healthy, Christ-like Piety, and be 
thoroughly imbued with the Missionary Spirit — He should be an able, 
efficient Man — Responsibility of College and Theological Professors — 
The Missionary requires sound Common Sens*, Practical and Varied 
Knowledge, and Administrative Ability— He Ins ample Scope for 
Learningand Eloquence — HisLabois do not tend to mental Imbecility — 
He Requires good Health — He should be Married— He must be a 
Worker, and Possess Courage 53-77 

ix 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

MOTIVES TO ENGAGE IN THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK. 
Unworthy Motives — The Love of Christ, the Foundation of all True 
Motives — The Great Commission — The Duty and Privilege of Carry- 
ing the Gospel into the Regions Beyond — The Reflex Benefits of Mis- 
sions—The Heathen lost Without the Gospel— Many Open Boors — 
The Laborers Few— The Foreign Field affords the widest Scope for Use- 
fulness—Disparity of Labors in the Foreign as Compared with the 
Home Field — Facilities for Traveling— Concluding Inquiries 78-111 

CHAPTER V. 

THE NATURE OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK. 

Mistakes Corrected— Learning the Language— Preaching the Gospel the 
Grand Means to be Employed in Evangelizing the Nations— The Es- 
tablishment of Permanent Stations— Native Preachers— The Formation 
of Churches — Native Pastors— Mission Schools— The Press— The Power 
must come from God 112-135 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE TRIALS AND COMFORTS OF A FOREIGN MISSIONARY LIFE. 
(1.) Trials of Missionaries — Separation from Friends, Native Land, and 
Christian Privileges — Sending Home Children — Troubles with Asso- 
ciates — Physical Discomforts — Disagreeable Characteristics of the 
Natives— Obstacles to the Progress of the Work, Trying— Trials with Con- 
verts — The Meanness of the Work— Exposure to Perils— (2.) Comforts 
of Missionaries— For Jesus' Sake — Physical Comforts Increasing, and " 
Already Numerous — Luxury of Doing Good, of Performing a God- Ap- 
pointed Work — Many encouraging Facilities — Comfort from Converts — 
A Great and Noble Work 136-160 

CHAPTER VII. 

SIGNS OF THE SPEEDY DIFFUSION OF THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE 
WORLD. 

The Universal Diffusion of the Gospel Certain — Rise and Development of 
Modern Missions — The Opening of the Nations — Important Position 
of Protestant Nations — Facilities for Disseminating the Gospel — The 
Spirit of the Age — The Exploration of the Fields — Missionary Occupa- 
tion of the Nations — Direct Results throughout the Unevangelized Por- 
tions of the World, in Conversions, in Establishing Mission Stations 
and Churches, in Rai-ing up a Native Ministry, and in Rendering 
Heathen Nations Christian — Physical, Mental and Moral B nefits Im- 
parted—Success Attained, a Precursor of Victory — Human Agency 
Necessary — Closing Appeal, 161-196 

CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD 197-228 



THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 



HIS FIELD AND HIS WORK. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FUNDAMENTAL PLACE THAT MISSIONS HOLD 
IN THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY. 

MODERN Christian missions have been in opera- 
tion about eighty years. During this period, 
the nations, in the providence of God, have been 
opened to the gospel, the missionary spirit has been 
greatly developed in the churches, and much progress 
has been made in the missionary work in heathen 
lands. Still, missions evidently have not yet 
assumed that prominence in the minds of Christians 
generally, that they should occupy. Many churches 
contribute nothing for missions, and most that is 
done for this cause appears to be performed in an 
incidental or formal manner, rather than from an 
all-controlling principle. Few appear committed 
to the work of giving the gospel to the world as 
1 



12 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

an enterprise to be accomplished at whatever expen- 
diture of money, time, toil, and at whatever sacrifice 
may be necessary in its execution. 

In the present work, I propose, in the first place, 
to treat of the fundamental character of missions, 
to show that the missionary spirit is necessary to 
a symmetrical Christian character, and that to be 
engaged in missionary labor is the normal condi- 
tion of every Christian and of every church. Sub- 
sequently, I purpose to notice some of the duties 
of pastors respecting missions ; also to indicate the 
kind of men needed for foreign missionaries; to 
point out the chief motives to engage personally in 
the foreign missionary work ; to delineate the prin- 
cipal features and characteristics, the trials and the 
comforts of that work; and call attention to the 
signs of the speedy diffusion of the gospel throughout 
the world. 

In this chapter, I shall endeavor to show that mis- 
sions hold a fundamental place in the Christian 
economy, from the fact that Christianity and missions 
are identical in their origin and in their object; that 
Christ himself was a missionary ; that the preachers 
of his Gospel are missionary in their character; that 
every Christian also is essentially a missionary ; and 
that the church was established for missionary pur- 
poses. 

1. When and where did Christian missions origi- 
nate ? They did not originate with the formation of 
the numerous modern missionary societies ; nor with 
any of the great names of modern missions, as Carey, 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 13 

Morrison, Judson and others ; nor with the Romish 
missions of the middle ages ; nor with the Nestorian 
missions in Asia in the fifth and sixth centuries; nor 
w 7 ith the early Christian fathers; nor did they origi- 
nate with Paul, "the apostle to the Gentiles;" nor 
with Peter and the other apostles; nor even with the 
coming of Christ himself into the world on his great 
mission ; nor yet with any of the ancient prophets or 
patriarchs. 

Christian missions did not have their origin on this 
earth, nor in time. If we would trace their source, 
we must go back to the origin of Christianity itself; 
we must look up to the great loving heart of God. 
" God is love." His very nature is love, constituting 
the fountain whence flows the river of God's benefi- 
cence, deep, broad, perennial, — pouring abroad a flood 
of blessedness to gladden the universe. In this same 
fountain of love we find the origin of Christianity and 
of Christian missions. 

Far back in the counsels of the triune God, long 
before it was said, " Let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness," before "the morning stars sang 
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" 
over the newly created world, before it was said, 
"Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know 
good and evil," — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
foreseeing man's fall, had compassion upon him in 
his prospectively ruined state, and took counsel to de- 
termine a plan for his recovery. The inquiry arose, 
"Whom shall we send, and who will go for us?" 
Then the Son responded, "Lo, I come, to do thy 



14 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

will, O God." And the Father "spared not his own 
Son, but delivered him up for us all." He "so 
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish 
but have everlasting life." Here, then, before the 
foundation of the world, in the love and counsel of 
the triune God, we find the origin of Christ's mission 
to save the lost ; and here too we find the source, and 
inspiration of all those movements in the world which 
have for their object the renovation and salvation of 
men. 

That counsel of the three Persons of the Trinity 
may be styled the first missionary meeting, and 
Christianity itself was to all intents and purposes a 
mission — the first original Christian mission. Thus, 
Christianity and Christian missions are identical in 
their origin. 

2. It is also evident that they are identical in their 
object. Christianity, as we have seen, is itself a mis- 
sion. Its field is the world, which as a whole, but 
for the scheme of redemption, would have been in a 
far more hopeless and wretched condition than that 
of any heathen nation, now that a dispensation of 
grace has been provided. The object of Christianity 
was to impart light to those shrouded in moral dark- 
ness, to quicken to life a race " dead in trespasses and 
in sins," to bring back a revolted world to repentance 
and to God, to regenerate and purify corrupt sinful 
men, in a word, to seek and save a lost world. Such 
was the object for which Christianity was originally 
instituted. Christian missions have in view the same 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 15 

object — are simply carrying out the same great 
scheme. Any mission that has a lower or any differ- 
ent object in view than the salvation of men in the 
comprehensive sense above stated, is not worthy of 
the name of Christian. 

3. The fundamental character of missions appears 
also from the fact that Christ himself was a mission- 
ary in the most perfect sense. Missionary, from mis- 
sio, means one sent. Christ was emphatically the Sent. 
He was " The Messenger of the covenant." " He 
that receiveth me," says Christ, "receiveth him that 
sent me." " My meat is to do the will of him that 
sent me." " My doctrine is not mine, but his that 
sent me." "I must work the works of him that sent 
me." "Now I go my way to him that sent me." Thus 
was the Son of God the Father's Sent One — God's 
great Missionary to our sin-ruined world. And when 
the Father sent him into the world he set his seal up- 
on his divine Sonship, gave clear proof of his sympa- 
thy with his mission and assurance of its ultimate 
triumph. "When he bringeth in the first begotten 
into the world, he saith, Thou art my Son, this day 
have I begotten thee." "Thy throne, O God, is for- 
ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the scep- 
tre of thy kingdom." "Ask of me, and I shall give 
thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter- 
most parts of the earth for thy possession." 

Jesus was the model missionary. He was so in 
his perfect and cheerful obedience to the will of the 
Father who sent him. "When he cometh into the 
world he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst 

1* 



16 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt 
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no plea- 
sure. Then said I, Lo, I come, (in the volume of 
the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." 
It was his "meat" to-do the will, to speak the words 
and perform the works of his Father. And when 
the crowning test of his obedience came, in the agony 
of Gethsemane, his prayer still was, "Not my will, 
but thine, be done." Thus he came into the world, 
and faithfully fulfilled his whole mission, all in obe- 
dience to the will of Him who sent him, setting a 
perfect example of conformity to God's will, whatever 
it may require, for all his disciples to imitate. 

He was the model missionary, also, in his self-sac- 
rificing spirit. His entire mission was one of self- 
sacrifice for the good of others. "He pleased not 
himself." " Though he was rich, yet for our sakes 
he became poor," so poor that " he had not where to 
lay his head," " that we through his poverty might 
be rich." He left the bosom of his Father, laid aside 
his glory, and voluntarily became subject to poverty, 
to disgrace, to toil, to suffering, and to death, even 
the ignominious and painful death on the cross. His 
self-sacrifice was complete; he laid all upon the altar; 
a standing and most impressive example to his disci- 
ples, but alas, how seldom followed ! 

He was the model missionary also, in his conde- 
scension. He condescended to come down from the 
throne of the universe, to take upon him human na- 
ture, yea, the " form of a servant," to dwell among 
ungrateful and sinful men. He humbled himself to 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 17 

the lowest depths of man's fallen, wretched condition, 
that he might raise him up. 

Moreover, he was the model missionary in his 
mode of preaching. He adapted himself to the 
condition and comprehension of his hearers. He 
" preached the gospel to the poor," and to the worst 
of sinners, and mingled with all classes that he might 
win them to repentance. His preaching was specially 
characterized by the kindness, yet pointedness and 
authority of his words ; by his condescension, zeal 
and faithfulness; by the persistent singleness of his 
aim, which rejected all irrelevant themes and ever 
held his hearers to the great subject of their personal 
salvation and their duty to serve and glorify God ; 
and by exemplifying and enforcing the principles 
that he taught in his own consistent and perfect life. 

Again, he was the model missionary in his love and 
benevolence. The crowning feature in Christ's life, 
that which threw a beautiful halo around his whole 
character, was his love. He was, indeed, the very 
embodiment of the love of God. He lived and 
moved in an atmosphere of love. Love was the 
spring of all his acts. From this divine fountain of 
love flowed a constant stream of beneficent deeds. 
" The whole of his course was a history of pure and 
disinterested benevolence." " He went about doing 
good." Wherever he went, he scattered blessings 
around him. He was devoted to the work of making 
others happy; relieving the afflicted, comforting the 
distressed, instructing the ignorant, reforming the 
erring, saving the lost. " He did nothing for him- 



18 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

self: whatever he did was for the advantage of man. 
Selfishness stood abashed in his presence." 

Finally, in his blameless and holy life he was the 
model missionary. The prophetic description of his 
character was fully answered in his practical life. 
" Thou art fairer than the children of men." " He 
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." 
His enemies could bring none but false accusations 
against him. His judge was forced to declare, "I 
find no fault in this man." His disinterested, blame- 
less and holy life gave effect to his teachings, and af- 
forded proof of his divinity and the truth of his gos- 
pel. 

Thus Jesus in his whole spirit and life was a true 
missionary. He was the living exponent and em- 
bodiment of the principles which he taught. Hence, 
Christianity is not the mere theory of a teacher, or a 
mere faith in a system, but a " life." The life of 
Christ in the soul constitutes a man a Christian. And 
since the life of Christ is so purely missionary, it is 
evident how essential a place the spirit of missions 
holds in Christianity. "A Christianity that does 
not possess the missionary spirit is a fraud. Mis- 
sionary operations, so called, are simply so many in- 
dications of the existence of a vital Christianity." 
They are signs of the presence of Christ's spirit. 

4. That missions hold a fundamental place in the 
Christian economy, appears again from the fact that 
Christ sent forth the preachers of his gospel in the 
character of missionaries. His apostles were "the 
sent " — were missionaries. And every true minister 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. . 19 

of Christ, (I do not say ought to be,) is a missionary. 
To this there is no exception. " As my Father hath 
sent me," says Christ, " even so send I you." In 
other words, " As I am my Father's missionary, even 
so are ye my missionaries." As the Father sent me 
to preach the gospel and save the lost, so send I you 
on a like mission. You are to be my representatives 
on earth. You are to carry forward the work that I 
have begun. " Ye shall be witnesses unto me both 
in Jerusalem, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth." If Christ was a missionary, then 
are his servants who go forth at his command and 
in imitation of his example, also missionaries. If 
any minister of Christ has a secret idea that to be a 
missionary to degraded heathen would be somewhat 
derogatory to his dignity and aspirations, he should 
remember that, " The servant is not greater than his 
lord, neither he that is sent, greater than he that sent 
him." Or if he entertains the notion that since he is 
a pastor or intends to be a pastor at home, his calling 
is not that of a missionary, he should bear in mind 
that "It is enough for the disafiple that he be as his 
master, and the servant as his lord." And since his 
Lord and Master was a missionary, if he is his true 
servant, he too, like him, will possess a missionary 
spirit, and will be a missionary wherever may be his 
field of labor. 

Moreover, the great commission, " Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,'/ 
constitutes every gospel preacher a missionary. This 
commission is very broad. It is not confined to any 



20 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

particular class of laborers, nor to any circumscribed 
place, but it applies equally to every herald of the 
cross, in whatever part of the world duty may call 
him to labor. And it is so purely missionary in its 
spirit and tenor, that it constitutes every person act- 
ing under it, though he may be the settled pastor of 
a church, to all intents and purposes a missionary. 
The pastor is the missionary of his parish. Within 
the district occupied by his congregation, dwell many 
souls unconverted, ignorant, benighted, for whose en- 
lightenment and salvation he is to labor in the same 
spirit, mode, and purpose, as his Master, the model 
missionary. 

Taking this view of the subject, it is no longer a 
question with you, my brethren in the ministry, who 
shall be missionaries. That question need not be 
agitated, for you are all missionaries. The only 
question to settle is — what field ? The language of 
every truly loyal heart is, " Lord, I am thy sent one, 
thy missionary. Where in the great field, i the world/ 
will thou have me to labor ? Send me where thou 
wilt." 

5. Again, every disciple of Christ is also essentially 
a missionary. In Christ's remarkable prayer for his 
disciples, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of 
John, he employs language respecting all of his dis- 
ciples similar to that addressed to the apostles. "As 
thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also 
sent them into the world." Here the reference evi- 
dently is to all his disciples, in every land, through 
all time. As Jesus was sent to be the Father's Re- 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 21 

preservative on earth, so the Christian is sent by- 
Christ to be his representative in the world. He 
dwells in Christ and Christ in him. He has "put 
on Christ,'' has "put on the new man," the "new 
Adam," he has " Christ formed within." 

His very discipleship depends upon his possessing 
the " spirit of Christ," without which he is "none of 
his." And since the spirit of Christ is pre-eminent- 
ly a missionary spirit, every true disciple possesses 
the missionary spirit. To be destitute of that spirit 
and yet claim to be a Christian, would be a contra- 
diction of terms. Possessing the missionary spirit of 
Christ, every true, enlightened Christian will be 
found in some humble way imitating his Master's 
example. He is a missionary in his sphere. He is 
inspired with a love for others that impels him to 
seek their good, especially the salvation of those who 
are still in their sins. To this end, he is willing to 
labor, to suffer, to make sacrifices. He, like the 
great model missionary, "goes about doing good." 
He does not wish to be isolated, and like false and 
mistaken religionists, to be a recluse, nor does he wish 
to indulge in selfish ease. But his delight is to fol- 
low as far as he is able, in the footsteps of Him who 
"threaded his enlightening and healing way through 
the thronging multitudes," and daily mingled love 
and work together, whose love was not a mere sen- 
timent, a self-considering and self-satisfying passion, 
a mere selfish desire to be happy, but " the spring of 
an expansive and intensely practical philanthropy." 

As "the light of the knowledge of the glory of 



22 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

God in the face of Jesus Christ," shines in the heart 
of the disciple, he naturally reflects that light upon 
other hearts. Partaking of the light of Him who is 
" the light of the world," he desires to let his " light 
so shine before men," that they may "glorify his 
Father who is in heaven." 

But it was "the life" that was "the light of 
men." And each disciple being a partaker of the 
life of Christ, is sent forth to impart that life to 
others, to those " dead in trespasses and sins." 

Moreover, life implies action. Life is full of ac- 
tivity; it must have occupation. And the life of 
Christ in the soul is an active, productive principle, 
inciting to Christ-like benevolence and activity. 

Hence the appropriate, normal position of every 
Christian is that of a laborer, a missionary. " My 
Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The disci- 
ple is not above his Lord ; he is to " work " as did 
his Master. The command of Christ to every disci- 
ple is, " Go work to-day in my vineyard." Jesus 
did not come into the world merely to save men from 
hell, and enable them to be " carried to the skies on 
flowery beds of ease." But he came "to purify unto 
himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." 
To love and to work are the two great duties or 
rather privileges of every Christian. But "to him 
that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it 
is sin." 

The primitive Christians acted on the principle 
that they were Christ's missionaries. When they 
were scattered abroad by persecution, they were not 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 23 

inactive, were not silent, but "went everywhere 
preaching the word." Thus the gospel was made 
known and converts gathered, throughout the re- 
gions of Judea and Samaria, and even in many dis- 
tant regions, far in advance of the labors of the apos- 
tles, by the humble disciples who went everywhere 
telling the story of the Cross. The disciples at 
Jerusalem laid their possessions also at the feet of 
the apostles, to be used as far as required, in pro- 
moting the common cause which they had joyfully 
espoused. 

6. Finally, that missions hold a fundamental place 
in the Christian economy, appears from the fact that 
a church of Christ is a missionary organization. 
The church is composed of missionary elements. As 
we have seen, its Head, its ministers, and its indivi- 
dual members, possess the missionary spirit — are 
essentially missionary in their character. The union 
of these elements in one body, for mutual edification, 
to maintain the Christian ordinances and Christian 
worship, and to promote Christ's kingdom in the 
world, is what constitutes a Christian church. The 
primitive idea of the church, appears to have been 
this, — the company of disciples in a given locality 
united by the bonds of the same Christian faith, love, 
hope, obedience, and spirit, and the same Christian 
zeal in doing good aud saving others. The church is 
the blending of the light of the individual members 
in one focal blaze, for the more effectual enlighten- 
ment of the world. The law of the church, is the 
law of love, — love to God in Christ, love to each 
2 



24 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

other as Christ loved them, and love to a perishing 
world such as burned in the bosom of Jesus when he 
came on his mission to save lost men. 

Christ left his church in the world to represent 
him, and convey his truth to the nations. The dis- 
ciples united in one, in the Father, and in the Son, 
were sent forth by their Lord "into the world," not 
simply on their own account, for their own benefit, 
but that the world may believe that the Father 
sent him. The church was to constitute a standing 
living witness of Christ's divine mission, and the 
truth of his gospel. 

Christ committed to his church God's word. "I 
have given them thy word," not to be concealed, not 
to be " laid up in a napkin," but to be in their hearts 
"as a burning fire shut up in their bones," the "word 
of life" to be "held forth ;" the word of God that 
should " mightily grow and prevail." 

The church was established for the special purpose 
of carrying forward the work which Christ com- 
menced. He committed to the church his gospel 
with the express command to " preach it to every 
creature." She is the "Zion that bringest good ti- 
dings;" who "lifteth up her voice with strength." 
Christ laid upon his church the duty from which she 
cannot be released, to "disciple all nations." He 
constituted her " the light of the world." He placed 
her as " a city set on a hill that cannot be hid." He 
committed to the church the savor of his own saving 
efficacy, constituting her " the salt of the earth." He 
imparted to her his spirit of love, of benevolence ; in 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 25 

a word, his own missionary spirit, to ever remain an 
inward element of expansive and aggressive power, 
which was to extend outwardly in ever-widening cir- 
cles of philanthropic influence, that should only ter- 
minate with the utmost boundaries of the globe. 

Christ's church is a kingdom, " the kingdom of 
heaven," hence it is aggressive and destined to tri- 
umph. It is as "a grain of mustard-seed," which 
becomes " the greatest among herbs," yea, a tree, so 
that " the birds of the air come and lodge in the 
branches thereof." It is "the leaven hid in three 
measures of meal, till the whole is leavened." It is 
the "stream issuing from under the threshold of the 
sanctuary of God," which flows on, widening and 
deepening until it becomes an impassable river. It 
is u the stone cut out of the mountain without hands," 
which rolling onward shall break in pieces the image 
of iron and clay, of brass, and silver, and gold, which 
shall become " like the chaff of the summer threshing- 
floors," which the wind carrieth away, while the stone 
itself shall " become a great mountain, and fill the 
whole earth." 

If we turn to the early historical development of 
missions, we find that the primitive Christians, and 
even the Apostles, were slow to comprehend the spir- 
itual and universal character of Christ's kingdom. 
Though the declarations of the prophets, and the 
teachings of Jesus, often contained the seed-thoughts 
of these new, grand and revolutionary ideas which 
constitute the chief power and glory of that kingdom, 
yet for a long time they failed to understand them. 



26 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

It was most difficult for them to divest themselves of 
their pre-conceived Jewish ideas, and "look beyond 
all the former boundaries of national prejudice and 
selfishness," and contemplate the whole world as the 
field for their beneficent labors. 

It required the powerful work of the Holy Spirit 
at Pentecost to teach them that Christ's kingdom was 
not external and national, but internal and spiritual ; 
and that it was to be advanced not by an earthly or 
merely theocratic power, but by the power of the 
Holy Spirit. 

That the Gospel was to be proclaimed and win con- 
verts among all nations, and that Christianity was for 
the whole world, began to be shadowed forth when 
the disciples were " all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
and began to speak with other tongues," so that the 
representatives of all the nations known to the Jews 
" heard them speak in their own tongues the wonder- 
derful works of God." 

Seven or eight years later, Peter by a special vision 
was taught " that God is no respecter of persons, but 
in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh 
righteousness, is accepted with him." And when 
Peter and his Jewish associates saw that on Cornelius 
and his friends, though Gentiles, "was poured out the 
gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues," they 
were astonished, and were soon convinced that the 
believing Gentiles even, had a right to the ordinance 
of baptism, and a place in the Christian church. Thus 
were gathered into the church the first fruits of the 
glorious spiritual harvests that were to be gathered 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 27 

from the Gentile nations. This was a great step to- 
wards " breaking down the middle wall of partition," 
and in introducing that new and grand principle of 
the universal brotherhood of man, which was destined 
to revolutionize not only the ideas of the Jews, but 
also those of the proud and self-conceited Greeks and 
Romans, and to exert a liberalizing influence upon 
the naturally narrow and selfish minds of men 
wherever Christianity should prevail. It was a step 
for which the church at Jerusalem was not yet pre- 
pared ; and not until Peter had rehearsed the whole 
matter, showing God's approval of it, did they cease 
to contend with and chide him, and finally admit, 
"Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repent- 
ance unto life." 

But it was not until some ten years later, and about 
eighteen years after Christ's ascension, that the apos- 
tles and church at Jerusalem came to a formal deci- 
sion respecting the Gentile converts. Notwithstand- 
ing the voice of their ascended Lord, commanding to 
go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature ; notwithstanding the tongues of fire, the 
vision of Peter, the gift of the Holy Ghost to the 
Gentile Christians ; yet it was not till after the me- 
morable discussion at Jerusalem, in which Paul and 
Barnabas declared the " miracles and wonders God 
had wrought among the Gentiles by them," and Peter 
again rehearsed his vision, and James explained the 
prophecies relating to the conversion of the Gentiles, 
that the church publicly disowned the ritualistic teach- 
ings of the Judaizing members of the church — teach- 

2* 



4 



28 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

ings that were exceedingly obnoxious to the Apostle 
Paul and his missionary associates, and a great stum- 
bling-block to the Gentile converts. 

From this time the missions of the apostolic 
churches went rapidly forward. So zealous were the 
early churches, when once they had fully compre- 
hended the spirituality and universality of their mis- 
sion, that before the close of the second century the 
gospel had been preached and churches organized 
throughout Palestine and most of Asia Minor, through 
Macedonia, Greece, the Islands of the JEgean Sea, 
along the coast of Africa, and throughout Egypt and 
Libya ; at Rome, in Gaul, in Spain, in Germany, and 
in Britain, and throughout Asia, even as far as India 
and China. Historians of the second century, such 
as Justin Martyr, Irenseus, and Tertullian, speak of 
Asia, Africa, and Europe abounding with Christians. 
Irenseus represents Christianity as "extended through- 
out the whole world, even to the uttermost bounds of 
the earth." Making allowance for any exaggeration 
in the statements of these writers, Christianity was at 
least sufficiently extended at this period to prove that 
the early churches were thoroughly missionary in 
their character. And had the churches of succeeding 
times been true to the teachings of Christ, and to his 
design in their establishment, they no doubt would 
have maintained their spirituality, and the Gospel 
long since would have been preached to all people, 
and pure Christianity to-day would have been the 
prevailing religion of the world. 

The true missionary spirit was so entirely lost du- 



MISSIONS FUNDAMENTAL. 29 

ring the middle ages, and the spiritual and aggressive 
power of the churches had so far departed and been 
lost to sight, that the return of the churches to their 
normal condition as missionary organizations has been 
difficult and slow. At the commencement of the 
modern missionary movement many pious persons 
felt it their duty to oppose it, and there are some of 
this class even down to the present time. As an il- 
lustration of the prevailing spirit at that period, it 
may be mentioned, that at a meeting of Baptist min- 
isters in Northampton, England, in 1787, Mr. Kyland 
called on the young men present to propose a topic 
for discussion. William Carey rose and proposed for 
consideration this question, " Have the churches of 
Christ done all they ought to have done for heathen 
nations?" Mr. Byland sprang on his feet, and in 
tones of thunder cried out, "Young man, sit down ; 
when God pleases to convert the heathen world, he 
will do it without your help or mine either." 

Even to this day very many churches do not realize 
that they exist chiefly for missionary purposes; that 
it is their special business to make the gospel known 
to "every creature;" that the one great enterprise 
which should command all their resources is the evan- 
gelization of the nations, and that without the mission- 
ary spirit and missionary labor, they are nothing, are 
as utterly worthless as the salt that has " lost its sa- 
vor," or the "candle that is put under a bushel." 
Whatever may be the attainments or characteristics 
of a church in other respects, if it fail in its mission- 
ary character, it fails vitally and utterly. An inac- 



X 



30 THE FOEEIGN MISSIONARY. 

tive, self-complacent, satisfied church, is a dead 
church, or rather it is no church of Christ at all, for 
it fails of its design. 

If Christianity is true — if it is of God, and its 
claims obligatory upon all men, then should its pro- 
fessors, by their zeal in disseminating its principles, 
vindicate its truth, and to the full extent of their 
ability employ the means ordained of God to enforce 
its claims upon the nations. There is no consistent 
middle course to pursue. Christianity is either not 
worthy of attention, or it is of transcendent import- 
ance. It is either an imposture, or its claims are di- 
vine, and of universal obligation, and Christians are 
in duty bound to propagate it throughout the world. 

Until correct views on this subject come to be en- 
tertained and acted upon by the churches generally ; 
until the missionary spirit becomes all-pervading, and 
the missionary enterprise becomes a fixed and all-con- 
trolling principle; until missions are prosecuted on 
the understood and acknowledged rule that they hold 
an essential and chief place in the Christian economy ; 
in short, until a holy and Christ-like enthusiasm in 
the spiritual conquest of the world, is aroused in all 
the churches, missions will be but feebly and inade- 
quately prosecuted, and the conversion of the nations, 
and the coming of God's kingdom will tarry. This 
is not said in a spirit of despondency. If, as we be- 
lieve, the Gospel is destined to triumph, the prevalence 
of the missionary spirit is also certain. 



DUTY OF PASTOES EESPECTING MISSIONS. 31 



CHAPTER II. 

DUTY OF PASTOES EESPECTING MISSIONS. 

THAT there is a great deficiency of interest in 
missions among the churches, is generally ad- 
mitted. This lack of interest is manifested 
chiefly in disrelish for missionary reading ; neglect of 
earnest prayer for missions ; the free use of money 
for selfish purposes, while a mere pittance is given 
for the missionary work ; the very few who are will- 
ing, or who even have any clearly defined idea what 
it is, to make sacrifices for Christ ; the small number 
who are willing to consecrate themselves to the for- 
eign missionary work ; the indifference to the claims 
of the Saviour's last command ; the want of love and 
compassion for those perishing for lack of knowledge. 
This apathy appears in striking contrast with the in- 
creasing ability, means and appliances that God is 
putting into the hands of Christians. 

This deficiency of missionary spirit and action sug- 
gests the inquiry, — How may the defect be remedied? 
How shall Christians be induced to obey Christ's 
last command? How may the churches be brought 
up to the stand that they should occupy in the work 
of evangelizing the nations ? 

The accomplishment of this work evidently lies 



32 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

chiefly in the province of pastors. The acknowledged 
teachers and leaders of the churches must, with the 
blessing of God, raise them if they ever attain to that 
state of missionary devotion and consecration that it 
is their duty to occupy. What then is the duty of 
pastors respecting missions ? 

In offering a few practical suggestions in answer 
to this inquiry, I would especially bespeak the atten- 
tion of those preparing for the ministry. 

1. The pastor should himself possess a true mis- 
sionary spirit. The old adage, "Like priest, like 
people," holds as true respecting missions as other 
matters. If a pastor does not himself possess an ear- 
nest missionary spirit, he cannot infuse one into his 
church; the law of human influence will forbid it. A 
heart deeply moved will move other hearts, and vice- 
versa. The pastor's heart must be all aglow with mis- 
sionary zeal, and his flock will instinctively catch the 
same spirit. And if he is a missionary worker, 
ready to engage heartily in every effort to advance 
Christ's kingdom whether at home or abroad, his ex- 
ample also in this direction will be more effective than 
his words, in inducing missionary action among the 
members of his church. 

2. Moreover, the pastor must himself first enter- 
tain correct principles respecting benevolence and 
missions before he is prepared to properly instruct 
his people upon those subjects. Pie must believe in 
missions — believe that missions are of God, and that 
to promote them is the great business, not only of the 
churches generally, but of his own church in particu- 



DUTY OF PASTORS RESPECTING MISSIONS. 33 

lar. He should believe also that benevolence is not 
only a duty, but also a Christian grace to be assidu- 
ously cultivated by every member of the church. He 
must have broad views, comprehensive plans, and an 
earnest soul, or he will fall behind the spirit of the 
times, and fail to meet the demands of this age of 
broad views and great enterprises. He should be 
deeply impressed with a permanent unwavering con- 
viction that the missionary enterprise is the most im- 
portant of all great undertakings — that for which all 
others exist. He should consider its field as nothing 
less than the whole world, that its object, which it is 
bound to accomplish, is nothing short of carrying out 
the great commission to " preach the gospel to every 
creature," and the answer of the prayer, " thy king- 
dom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in hea- 
ven." 

3. There can be no doubt that much, and perhaps 
most, of the apathy in the churches respecting mis- 
sions, is attributable to the lack of interest, and the 
inactivity of pastors. Take an instance. A few 
years since, the pastors left most of the instruction of 
their churches on benevolence, and the taking of col- 
lections for missions, to agents. As was natural the 
churches came to consider the appeals of the agents 
as merely begging for money, and not as earnest ex- 
hortations to the performance of a Christian duty and 
the cultivation of a Christian " grace." Hence agents 
were virtually voted a nuisance, and their labors were 
to a large extent dispensed with. What was the 
consequence ? Many churches at once ceased to take 



34 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

collections, and to this day have done nothing, or 
very little, for either foreign or home missions. 
When inquired of why they do nothing, the answer 
usually is, " our pastor has not brought the subject 
before us." The training of the churches to contri- 
bute liberally and act vigorously for the extension of 
Christ's kingdom in the world, a duty clearly lying 
within the province of the pastors, and left for them 
to perform, was by them neglected, hence the 
churches remained indifferent and idle. 

Here another important inquiry arises. How is 
this missionary training and education of the churches 
to be conducted ? In what does the teaching consist? 

4. This instruction should begin with the uncon- 
verted, who are to constitute the future members of 
the church. How shall we account for the great 
number who when they come into the churches, 
cherish the idea that their spiritual work for time 
and eternity is now done ? They consider that they 
have made their peace with God, that they are now 
Christians, are saved from hell, and they seem to im- 
agine that henceforth they have only to perform a 
few simple Christian duties, enjoy their hope, " feel 
happy," and finally go home to heaven. Is not this 
state of mind accounted for in great part, by the na- 
ture of the motives presented to induce them to obey 
the gospel — motives which are essentially selfish, 
which place mere personal safety and happiness be- 
fore the mind as the supreme object of attainment? 
In contradistinction to such a presentation of the gos- 
pel, the word of God evidently places character be- 



DUTY OF PASTORS RESPECTING MISSIONS. 35 

fore state, duty before pleasure. In other words, it 
teaches that to be holy and Christ-like is more im- 
portant than to escape punishment, and to serve and 
glorify God more important than to be happy. The 
Scriptures represent sin as dishonoring to God, not 
punishment. Hence the faithful pastor will teach 
the unconverted part of his congregation that God 
calls them not only to believe, but also show their 
faith by their works, not simply to be saved, but to 
serve and glorify God, not only to be happy, but also 
to "suffer" and make sacrifices for Christ's sake. 
Jesus was a great sufferer and a diligent worker. 
Hence men should understand that it is their duty to 
become disciples of Christ not simply in the sense of 
believing on him for salvation and professing his 
name, but more especially that they may follow his 
footsteps in self-denying labors, and if need be suffer- 
ings. They should be taught that Christ is saying 
to every one, " Son, go work to-day in my vineyard;" 
that the Saviour's first great object in coming into the 
world and giving himself for us, was " that he might 
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself 
a peculiar people zealous of good works ;" and that 
it was to call men from the service of Satan, to work 
for God. They should know, however, that this 
work is not enjoined as any merit, or a means of jus- 
tification, or as a kind of penance or redeeming task 
for past sins and sloth fulness, but a voluntary cheer- 
ful service sweetly " constrained by the love of Christ." 
If young converts have this view of their calling 
as Christians, clearly defined and deeply impressed 
3 



36 THE FOREIGK MISSIONARY. 

upon their minds, they surely will not think of sit- 
ting down inactive in the church. Their constant 
inquiry will be " Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do ? " We shall then see a race of Christians coming 
into the churches ready for action — ready to do va- 
liant service for Christ. 

5. The pastor should teach the church her great 
mission. That the church was established for mis- 
sionary purposes, that it is itself a missionary society, 
that it was constituted to be " the light of the world," 
" the salt of the earth," this view should be constant- 
ly impressed by the pastor upon all the members of 
his church, until they clearly understand, adopt, and 
act in accordance with it. They should be so in- 
structed that they will not merely feel and acknow- 
ledge their obligation, but will also be constrained to 
obey Christ's last, great command, and practically 
labor by every means in their power to make known 
the gospel to every one whether far or near. 

They should be made to understand, and practi- 
cally act upon the principle, that to extend Christ's 
kingdom throughout the world, is the work which he 
gave them to do ; that this is their special business, 
their great enterprize to be accomplished, with the 
blessing of God, at whatever cost. 

Pains should be taken to give them enlarged views 
of the field ; enlarged views of the power of the gos- 
pel, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to regenerate 
and save all the hundreds of millions of the earth's 
inhabitants ; enlarged views of the power of God's 
providence to remove obstacles, and to open the door 



DUTY OF PASTORS RESPECTING MISSIONS. 37 

of faith unto all nations ; enlarged views of the fa- 
cilities and abundant means put into their hands for 
the evangelization of all people; and enlarged views 
of the important duties and high privileges to which 
God's word and providence are in this age calling 
them. They should be taught to entertain enlarged 
views of their obligations to live to Christ and labor 
for his cause, their obligation to act on the principle 
that they are not their own, and their duty to lay 
themselves soul and body and all their property upon 
the altar of their Redeemer. They should be taught 
to make everything subservient to their great mission 
of bringing a world of sinners back to God. 

Christians should also have it impressed upon 
them, that Missionary Societies neither were intend- 
ed nor are they able to take the responsibility of 
evangelizing the nations, out of the hands of the 
churches. Missionary, Bible, and Tract Societies are 
the servants of the churches, mere auxiliaries to aid 
the churches in doing their work. The officers of 
the Societies are simply the agents of the churches, 
to receive their funds for benevolent purposes, and 
apply them to the objects which they may direct. 

They are simply a convenience to save the churches 
time, labor and expense in prosecuting their great en- 
terprise. It is an economical arrangement that may 
be dispensed with, when the churches can do their 
work as well without it ; a period, however, that does 
not appear very near. 

6. It is the duty of the pastor also, to teach his 
church the theory and practice of benevolence. He 



38 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

should teach that benevolence holds an essential place 
in the Christian economy — that it is a Christian 
grace. The apostle urging the Corinthians to give, 
says, " See that ye abound in this grace also." The 
members of the church should be taught how large a 
place benevolence holds in the plan of redemption. 
They should know that the whole scheme was calcu- 
lated and arranged on a principle adapted to destroy 
the inherent selfishness of the depraved human heart, 
which constitutes the root of all sin, the very seat and 
core of the moral disease of our race, and to replace 
instead of selfishness the lost spirit of benevolence 
and love. "Jehovah resolved on first presenting 
to mankind an unparalleled exhibition of benevo- 
lence, — of unmerited favor and grace, — an exhibition 
designed to rekindle extinguished benevolence in the 
heart of man," and to send him forth on a mission of 
beneficence to his fellow-men. It has been well said, 
that, " The world having lost the original idea of 
goodness, and sunk into a state of universal selfish- 
ness, Christ's character and mission were calculated 
and formed, on the principle of an earnest endeavor 
to recall the departed spirit of benevolence, and bap- 
tize it afresh in the element of love."* The grace of 
giving, not only tends to uproot narrow selfishness 
and covetousness, which like a cancer, sap the very 
vitals of the Christian life, and bring leanness and 
coldness into the soul, but it also brings the heart 
continually into sympathy with Christ, who "gave 
himself," yea, gave all for us. "Who though he was 

* Mammon, by Harris. 



DUTY OF PASTOES RESPECTING MISSIONS. 39 

rich yet for our sakes he became poor, that we 
through his poverty might become rich." 

The pastor is in duty bound to unfold and enforce 
" the divine law of beneficence," in all its length and 
breadth, by all the authority and light upon the sub- 
ject, afforded by the examples and precepts contained 
in the Bible, and by all the aid to be derived from 
the valuable works on beneficence recently published. 
Of scriptural examples the most marked and instruc- 
tive, he finds to be, first, that of the Jews under the 
old dispensation, who were required by Jehovah, to 
give nearly one half of their whole gross income for 
religious and benevolent purposes. Next, is the 
striking example of the early Christians, many of 
whom sold their possessions, and laid all their 
property at the apostles' feet, to be used as far as 
required for benevolent objects. And what a beau- 
tiful example of the grace of giving, was afforded by 
the "churches of Macedonia." The apostle calls it 
" the grace of God bestowed on them," so " that in a 
great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy, 
and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of 
their liberality. For to their power, I bear you 
record, yea, and beyond their power, they were will- 
ing of themselves ; praying us with much entreaty, 
that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the 
fellowship of the ministering to the saints," i. e. the 
giving of alms to the poor disciples at Jerusalem. 

Of divine precepts requiring beneficence, the Bible 
is full; and they are usually accompanied by 
promises of reflex blessings to those that give. Take 

3* 



40 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

the following as specimens; "He that hath pity upon 
the poor, lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he 
hath given, will he pay him again." (Prov. xix. 17.) 
"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the 
first fruits of all thine increase ; so shall thy barns be 
filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out 
with new wine." (Prov. iii. 9.) "There is that 
scattereth, and yet increaseth." "The liberal soul 
shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be 
watered also himself." (Prov. xi. 24, 25.) " He 
that hath a bountiful eye, shall be blessed." (Prov. 
xxii. 9.) " Cast thy bread upon the waters ; for thou 
shalt find it after many days." (Prov. xi. 1.) "It is 
more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts xx. 35.) 
" God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 Cor. ix. 7.) " Go 
and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and 
thou shalt have treasure in heaven." (Matt. xix. 21.) 
Of works upon beneficence and missions published 
in recent times, which every pastor, and those having 
the ministry in view, should read and ponder, and 
whose principles should be inculcated upon the mem- 
bers of every church, I would recommend the fol- 
lowing : — " Mammon, or Covetousness the Sin of the 
Christian Church," by Rev. John Harris, D. D. 
" The Great Commission, or The Christian Church 
constituted and charged to convey the Gospel to the 
World," also by Dr. Harris, the most sterling work 
on missions ever written by an uninspired author; 
" The Divine Law of Beneficence," by Rev. Parsons 
Cook ; " Zaccheus, or The Scriptural Plan of Benev- 
olence," by Rev, Samuel Harris. " The Mission of 



DUTY OF PASTOES EESPECTING MISSIONS. 41 

the Church, or Systematic Beneficence/ 7 by Rev. 
Edward A Lawrence; and " Primitive Piety Re- 
vived," by Rev. H. C. Fish, D. D. All these 
works are premium essays. The best recent work is 
" Foreign Missions," by Rev. Rufus Anderson, D. D. 
In regard to the amount that Christians should be 
taught to give, the New Testament rule is, " as God 
hath prospered." " Freely ye have received, freely 
give." The Christian is to reckon up his accounts 
with God, to count up his blessings, estimate his gifts; 
he is to consider how much Christ has done and is 
doing for him. Constrained by gratitude for all the 
blessings, temporal and spiritual, that he has received, 
he is to give according to his ability. Pastors often 
err in not teaching the churches under their charge to 
give more liberally, in some cases even they discourage 
giving liberally, either through their own ignorance 
of the duty of benevolence, or from a niggardly and 
most mistaken view that if the church gives liberally 
to extraneous objects, it will do less for his pecuniary 
support, while facts abundantly prove the reverse to 
be true. Many intelligent laymen are far more liberal- 
minded than their pastors ; are more willing to give 
than their pastors are to ask them to give. Most 
pastors appear to take too narrow views of the ability, 
duty, and even willingness of the church to give, if 
properly informed respecting the worthiness of the 
object. Pastors often, and perhaps usually, ask for 
dimes, when they should ask for dollars — for dollars 
when they should ask for tens — for tens when they 
should ask for hundreds — and for hundreds when 
they should ask for thousands. 



42 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

Oh, how will the progress of Christ's kingdom 
tarry until pastors take enlarged, liberal views of 
Christian beneficence, and teach their churches that 
it is their duty not only to give, but to give liberally, 
and not only to give liberally, but also to make giving 
a business — make beneficence the grand object of life; 
the calling to which all other employments are sub- 
servient. The pastor should teach business men that 
when they gave themselves to the Lord, if the conse- 
cration was sincere and entire, it included their pro- 
perty and their talents to acquire property; in a 
word, that they are stewards of God, and bound to 
use the powers of their minds, the labor of their 
hands, and the property that God gives them for his 
glory and the extension of his kingdom. 

It is also highly important, as well as Scriptural, 
that he teach every one to give systematically. He 
should inculcate the divine rule, " Upon the first day 
of the week let every one lay by him in store, as God 
hath prospered him." A system based upon this rule 
as a guide, and faithfully administered, is indispensa- 
ble in order to secure large contributions, and to cul- 
tivate most successfully the Christian grace of benev- 
olence. 

7. Again, the pastor should see that the church is 
thoroughly informed respecting missionary operations 
throughout the world. Much of the indifference and 
inactivity of the churches in the work of missions 
arises from ignorance, a want of information respect- 
ing the condition and claims of the various mission 
fields at home and abroad ; ignorance also respecting 



DUTY OF PASTOES RESPECTING MISSIONS. 43 

the special work, the successes, the encouragements, 
and the wants of the various missionary and benevo- 
lent Societies. What the churches require in order to 
induce them to give liberally for missions and other 
benevolent objects is, not urgent appeals for money, 
but the removal of this ignorance; they need light. 
Mere appeals for money, without imparting such in- 
formation as will render them intelligent givers, will 
tend to make Christians illiberal rather than liberal. 
Rev. Dr. Anderson, for about forty years Secretary 
of the American Board, in his work on " Foreign 
Missions," places "ignorance of the facts in missions" 
as " the root and source " of all those misapprehen- 
sions and objections, and want of missionary spirit, 
that hinder the work of missions. He adds, " I be- 
lieve the interest which truly Christian people take 
in the missionary work, is equal to their correct know- 
ledge of it. For we must charitably suppose that the 
apparent insensibility of so many real Christians to 
the enlargement and glory of their Redeemer's king- 
dom on earth, is not because their hearts are really 
cold and dead to the interests of that kingdom, but 
because they know so little about it." 

It is obvious that the removal of this ignorance and 
its consequent evils, depends chiefly upon faithful 
efforts on the part of the pastor. Among the means 
that he is to employ to impart to his people a know- 
ledge of missions, missionary reading, in the form of 
periodicals and books, probably holds the first place. 
To quote again from Dr. Anderson, — " Specific duties 
demand appropriate facts, and these are indispensa- 



V 



44 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

ble." " Pastors will be sure to find among the mem- 
bers of their churches a deficiency in that kind of 
information, which is productive, through the divine 
blessing, of a missionary spirit. Our age is indeed 
called, and very properly, a reading age. 'The popu- 
lar taste/ as one has justly said, 'is discursive; travel- 
ling over the fields of trade, agriculture, commerce, 
and all the productive industries of the times. It 
follows the diplomacy of cabinets, and the movements 
of armies, with the world's map constantly in hand. 
It is alive to the lessons of science, the attractions of 
literature, and especially the fascinations of fiction, in 
its dealings with life and religion. And yet, here is 
a cause confessedly transcending every other, in the 
judgment of the Christian mind, which, if we were 
to estimate its importance by what the bulk of the 
people know about it, we should be forced to set it 
down as one of the most insignificant topics of the 
day/" 

The lack of missionary reading will, no doubt, ac- 
count in a great degree for the large number of our 
churches who give nothing for missions; for the fact, 
also, that of the remainder, most fall far short of 
giving according to their ability; and for the fact, 
moreover, that so few are offering themselves for the 
work of preaching the Gospel in heathen lands where 
laborers are so much needed. 

Of the Congregational Churches in Massachusetts 
and Connecticut, where missionary reading is more 
widely diffused, perhaps, than in any other part of 
our land, it is said that " not more than one professed- 



DUTY OF PASTOES RESPECTING MISSIONS. 45 

ly Christian family in three or four takes, or even 
looks into, the monthly journal, which contains a 
definite and intelligent account of the missions that 
they are pledged to support/' and as a natural result, 
u nearly one-fourth of the members contribute nothing 
for sending the Gospel to the heathen, and scarcely 
more than a fifth part attend the monthly concert of 
prayer for the conversion of the world." 

Another instance in the Baptist denomination has 
come under my personal observation.. In a large city 
containing about forty Baptist Churches, there were 
not more than a dozen copies of the Baptist Mission- 
ary Magazine taken in 1870. As might be expected, 
much ignorance existed respecting the present opera- 
tions of foreign missions. As an illustration of this, 
one of the leading pastors was entirely ignorant of 
the fact that the Baptist Missionary Union had two 
years previously resumed its mission in Africa, and 
was supporting, in whole or in part, eighteen colored 
preachers there. Not a single missionary concert of 
prayer was maintained in the whole city among these 
churches; the interest in foreign missions was very 
low, and the contributions of the churches for this 
object were meagre compared with their ability. 
This, probably, is a fair specimen of quite a large 
portion of the Baptist Churches in our land. Among 
the eight thousand or more churches, the six or seven 
thousand pastors, and the seven hundred thousand 
members of churches connected with the American 
Baptist Missionary Union, there were, in 1870, but 
four thousand subscribers for the Baptist Missionary 






46 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

Magazine, the only periodical that gives the letters 
and journals of their foreign missionaries. And 
among the fourteen hundred thousand Baptists of this 
country, only about fifty thousand copies of the Mace- 
donian and Record were taken. In view of this great 
lack of missionary reading and information among 
the members of our churches, is it strange that more 
than half of them contribute nothing for missions, and 
very few who contribute give in proportion to their 
ability? Is it strange that the earnest appeals from 
our home and foreign mission fields for laborers are 
so feebly responded to, and that so few churches should 
have interest enough in missions to maintain the 
monthly missionary concert? A very little care on 
the part of the pastor, near the close of the year, would 
do much to remedy this deficiency of missionary read- 
ing. Were he simply to see that a person in the 
church is appointed annually to solicit subscriptions 
for missionary periodicals, and attend to their distri- 
bution, the work would be accomplished. 

He should also recommend to the members the 
purchasing and reading of all the best books on mis- 
sions, and ought himself set the example. 

Another means that he should employ in order to 
keep his people informed respecting missions is, to 
preach missionary sermons. After every effort is put 
forth to introduce missionary periodicals and books 
among the members, many either from indifference 
or poverty, will still remain destitute of them. All 
this class, constituting a large majority of the mem- 
bership of the churches, will remain ignorant of mis- 



DUTY OF PASTOES EESPEOTING MISSIONS. 47 

sionary operations and will make their contributions, 
if at all, in the dark, "not knowing what becomes of 
their money," unless pastors impart to them the re- 
quisite information. Hence, sermons containing not 
only the principles of missions as derived from the 
Bible, but also the latest and most interesting facts 
and providential developments touching the great 
work of the world's evangelization, should be preached 
statedly, perhaps monthly. The coming of Go.d's 
kingdom, which is but another form of designating 
missions, should in some form be woven into every 
public prayer and almost every sermon. 

Another important means for keeping the church 
informed on missions and kindling missionary zeal, 
is the observance of the monthly concert of prayer for 
missioDS. In 1784, the Northamptonshire Baptist 
Association, England, "unanimously resolved — To 
recommend to all our churches and congregations, the 
spending of one hour, on the first Monday of every 
calendar month, in prayer, to bewail the low estate of 
religion, and earnestly implore a revival of our 
churches, and of the general cause of our Redeemer, 
and for that end to wrestle with God for the effusion 
of his Holy Spirit, which alone can produce the bless- 
ed effect." Such was the commencement of the 
Monthly Missionary Concert, which has been adopted 
by all evangelical denominations throughout the 
world, and which has resulted in such rich spiritual 
blessings to the churches, and has so greatly promoted 
the missionary spirit. No pastor can afford to be 
without the Concert, for its beneficial effects both upon 
4 



48 THE FOBEIGN MISSIONARY. 

himself and upon his church, and he should do all in 
his power to render it as interesting and profitable as 
possible. To this end the following suggestions may- 
be found useful. The pastor should thoroughly pre- 
pare himself to conduct it. Long extracts from mis- 
sionary periodicals should not be read. The latest 
facts, incidents, missionary news, and providential 
developments should be given in the leader's own 
language and best manner, while a missionary map 
should always be suspended in a convenient position 
for reference, so as to locate in the minds of all pre- 
sent the information given. The information and 
prayers should not be confined to the foreign field, 
but should also include home missions. Sometimes 
the exercise may be varied by presenting a historical 
sketch of a particular mission, or a biographical sketch 
of some missionary. But the fact should never be 
lost sight of, that it is a meeting for prayer, and much 
of the time should be occupied in prayer interspersed 
with the singing of missionary hymns. 

As to the time for holding the concert, probably 
Sabbath evening is the best time. Then, no other 
cares need interfere with it, the minds of the people 
are in a thoughtful devotional frame, and if the meet- 
ing is properly conducted, and the members have had 
a proper missionary training, the whole church and 
congregation will come together for a missionary 
meeting of thrilling interest. If Sabbath evening 
is found to be inconvenient, then the first Monday 
evening of the month according to its original insti- 
tution, may be selected, or the first weekly prayer- 



DUTY OF PASTOES EESPECTING MISSIONS. 49 

meeting in the month may be converted into a mis- 
sionary concert. Some pastors prefer, instead of the 
monthly concert, to give every prayer-meeting a mis- 
sionary bearing. 

The pastor ought also to give special attention to the 
training of the youth. He should see that they are 
instructed in the principles and progress of missions, 
and in the duty of benevolent giving, that they may 
thus be prepared for the responsible duties that will 
eventually devolve upon them. He should take care 
that the lessons in the Sunday School include instruc- 
tion respecting missions, that the library is supplied 
with suitable missionary books, and that the children 
have the reading of missionary periodicals. It will 
be found also very useful to have the scholars formed 
into missionary societies or associations for the pur- 
pose of taking collections, that they may be interested 
in missions and form the habit of giving for benevo- 
lent objects. Once in three or four months the S. S. 
monthly concert might with great interest and profit 
be changed to a missionary concert, at which the 
children can recite texts, or sentiments, or dialogues 
on missions, or give interesting facts, incidents, and 
reports from the various mission fields. Missionary 
maps in the school-room, of course, are an indispensa- 
ble aid in rendering these exercises instructive and 
interesting. 

If then you inquire, " how an interest in foreign 
missions can be best cultivated in the Sunday 
School ? " I would answer, — by imparting missionary 
information derived from missionary periodicals and 



50 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

books, by holding missionary concerts, by using mis- 
sionary maps, and by taking missionary collections. 

One of the blessed results of having a church 
thoroughly informed on missions, is the removal of 
those misapprehensions and objections to missions, 
which arise from sheer ignorance respecting them, 
and which greatly hinder the full development of the 
missionary spirit and life in our churches. 

It is obvious that the pastor in order to be pre- 
pared to successfully remove objections, impart mis- 
sionary information, and inculcate a habit of mission- 
ary reading among his people, must himself form a 
habit of reading carefully and thoroughly upon mis- 
sions. The best time to form this habit, is before 
the cares and burdens of a pastorate devolve upon 
him. "Men," says Dr. R. Anderson, "who go 
through the seminary in habitual neglect of reading 
missionary intelligence, will be likely to go through 
their ministerial life in the same manner." 

8. The pastor ought also to seek out men for the 
ministry and for the missionary work. If it be 
objected, that " God only can call men into the min- 
istry," I would say, granted, and answer, God alone 
can effectually call sinners to repentance, still minis- 
ters have an important duty and agency in the 
matter. The directions given by Paul to Timothy 
and Titus, no doubt apply to pastors of the present 
day, — " The things that thou hast heard of me among 
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful 
men, who shall be able to teach others also." " Set 
in order the things that are wanting, and appoint 



DUTY OF PASTORS RESPECTING MISSIONS. 51 

elders in every city." Pastors have an important 
responsibility in this direction that is often entirely 
disregarded. This fact no doubt, accounts in a large 
degree for the sad deficiency of laborers in the min- 
istry, both at home and abroad. It is clearly the duty 
of the pastor, following the example of Timothy and 
Titus, to seek out and "appoint" young men of piety 
and ability to preach the gospel, and to encourage 
them also to go and preach the gospel in heathen lands. 

9. At the same time, he should teach parents their 
duty to devote their children to the ministry and the 
missionary work. The opposition that parents often 
manifest to their children going as missionaries to 
the foreign field, evidently arises from ignorance, and 
a misapprehension of the claims of missions arising 
from the claims of Christ. They do not realize as 
they ought, their duty to " live unto him who gave 
himself for them," their obligation to love Christ 
more than their children. They do not clearly 
apprehend that their great duty as Christians — that 
for which they should chiefly live, is to advance the 
Redeemer's kingdom in the world, that they should 
esteem it their highest privilege to make sacrifices if 
necessary, in the work of making known the gospel 
and saving perishing souls. It is the duty of pastors 
to remove such ignorance and misapprehension, and 
to inculcate upon all Christians the broadest views of 
their obligations, and by every means cultivate in 
them an intense missionary-spirit. 

10. Finally, if a pastor would realize the highest 
type of a missionary church, as well as the most 

4* 



52 THE FOKEIGN MISSIONAEY. 

Christ-like healthy type of piety in its members, he 
must have them all at work for Christ. At work in 
the Sunday-school, in prayer-meetings, in local mis- 
sionary associations, in tract distribution, in visiting 
from house to house for religious conversation and 
prayer, in soliciting subscriptions for benevolent 
objects, as agents for missionary and other religious 
periodicals, in establishing mission Sunday-schools 
and mission churches, in doing business for Christ 
— making money with the direct and avowed object 
of thereby aiding the extension of Christ's kingdom, 
in short, all laboring in their several spheres for their 
divine Master, and in his spirit seeking by all means 
to impart the blessings of the gospel to all men. A 
church thus laboring will develop a missionary 
spirit and a moral power that will be felt to the ends 
of the earth, and will realize Christ's idea in estab- 
lishing his church on earth. Such a church will be 
a strong, prosperous and united body, and will sus- 
tain liberally their pastor, and render him eminently 
happy and useful in his work. There are some pas- 
tors who appear to regard the preparing and preaching 
of sermons as their great and almost only work, while 
careful attention to details in conducting the affairs 
and labors of the church, is ignored as though they did 
not concern them or were beneath their dignity. This, 
beyond question, is a very grave error. It has been 
found by experience that efficient pastoral care and 
labor contribute more towards building up a large, 
strong, flourishing church, than the preaching of ser- 
mons, however able, excellent and popular. 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 53 



CHAPTER III. 

KIND OF MEN REQUIRED FOR FOREIGN 
MISSIONARY WORK. 

THE first essential qualification of a foreign mission- 
ary is personal piety. He must himself be " born 
again," must know by his own experience what 
" repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord 
Jesus Christ " mean, before he is prepared to preach 
these cardinal requirements of the gospel. He must 
know what it is to love Christ, before he can effect- 
ively teach others to love him. He must have a deep 
experience of all the Christian graces, ere he is pre- 
pared to ascertain their existence, and cultivate them 
in others. He must himself be spiritually-minded, 
before he is fitted to inculcate spiritual truths and 
labor for the advancement of God's spiritual king- 
dom. He must have an experience of the power of 
the gospel in his own soul before he can preach it 
with power to others. In short, the missionary must 
be a real, spiritually-minded Christian, who is ac- 
quainted not only with " the letter " of God's word, 
but also with " the power." This characteristic is 
fundamental and absolutely essential, without which 
all other qualifications for the missionary work will 
be utterly inadequate and unavailing. 



54 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

But it is not sufficient that a missionary be a 
Christian merely. There are certain characteristics 
of piety that are essential to his highest usefulness. 
One of these is, " full assurance of hope." He must 
be able to say with the apostle, " I know whom I 
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
keep that which I have committed unto him against 
that day." He should know without any serious 
doubts, that he is in Christ and Christ in him, that 
his feet are planted upon the " Rock." A missionary 
in a heathen land has a sufficient burden of anxiety 
and trouble concerning the salvation of others, and 
the general interests of his great work, without being 
anxious and troubled about his own salvation. 

Another characteristic of his piety quite essential is, 
that it be active and vigorous, and not merely emo- 
tional. There is a morbid piety or sentimentality 
that is constantly yearning after a purely spiritual 
frame that finds its aliment in whatever powerfully 
moves the emotions, that delights and glories in sighs 
and tears, or rapturous joys. Its language is, — 

"My willing soul would stay- 
in such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing herself away 
To everlasting bliss." 

But if persons possessing this type of piety are 
called upon for a subscription for some benevolent 
object, or to perform some active laborious service for 
Christ, their peace of mind is quite disturbed, and 
they turn away in disgust. To them the Christian 
life almost entirely consists in being happy, " enjoy- 



KIND OF MEN EEQUIRED. 55 

ing their minds," as they sometimes express it. Their 
thoughts and desires are centered upon self, and their 
attention is so absorbed in the attainment of a certain 
frame of mind, that it is diverted from the paths of 
duty and usefulness. Now such a selfish, emotional, 
exclusive kind of piety unfits, rather than fits, a per- 
son for the missionary work. The piety of a mis- 
sionary must be Christ-like; a piety that finds its 
vent and scope in beneficent deeds; that goes out in 
earnest, sincere sympathy for others; that causes one 
to a go about" like Jesus, "doing good;" that leads 
to a life of purity and holiness, and to the faithful, 
cheerful discharge of duty in all the walks of life; 
that prompts to toil and sacrifices for Jesus' sake, and 
for the sake of perishing souls. One of the great re- 
flex spiritual benefits of missions, has been to develop 
a more Christ-like, healthful piety. It has been well 
said, that "The missionary enterprise, with the cease- 
less Christian activities and exhausting efforts to 
which it prompted, tended powerfully, not to the 
destruction, nor even to the diminution of true Chris- 
tian spirituality, but to its separation from its selfish 
adjunct. It turned away thousands from that all- 
absorbing concern for themselves, and made them 
think and pray and feel and labor, and live for the 
hundreds of millions of their generation, rapidly 
sinking to the dreary abode of the lost. It thus gave 
to the emotions a wider range, and to the heart an 
object worthy of its most intense desires. It restored 
piety to a healthy and manly vigor."* Again, he 

^Missionary Jubilee, p. 318. 



56 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

who goes as a foreign missionary, must have a piety 
founded upon strong faith. Such a faith in Jesus, 
as " works by love," that casts out selfishness, and 
sweetly constrains to the performance of any labor, 
or to the making of any sacrifice, that the cause of 
Christ demands. Such an intrepid faith in God as 
will sustain him in the presence of the most formi- 
dable obstacles ; that will cause uncomplaining, cheer- 
ful submission to the will of God, amidst the heavi- 
est disappointments and the sorest trials ; and a 
faith so strong in God that it will sustain his self- 
denial, patience, and fortitude amid all his perplexi- 
ties and discouragements. 

His piety should also be of that Christ-like affec- 
tionateness and gentleness, that will cause him to 
bear with the ignorant, the bigoted, the weak and 
the erring; that will enable him to persuade the 
most indifferent or obstinate, with all long-suffer- 
ing, patience and kindness ; that will deal tenderly 
and charitably with young converts from heathen- 
ism; that will not "break the bruised reed, nor 
quench the smoking flax." He should be able to 
wield the mighty power of love. A man that will 
yield easily to anger, or that cherishes a harsh, un- 
charitable and overbearing disposition, or that 
possesses a cold, distant, unsympathetic nature, will 
be useless, and perhaps worse than useless, in the 
foreign field. 

The foreign missionary needs also to have in ex- 
ercise in a preeminent degree the grace of patience. 
He must be able to patiently plod on amid many 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 57 

discouragements, and to wait long before he obtains 
results. He must have " long patience," " until he 
receive the early and latter rain," that he may gather 
the " precious fruit." Patience in prosecuting mis- 
sions in a heathen land, must have its " perfect 
work." Said Xavier to his missionary associates in 
India, "God give you patience, which is the first 
requisite in dealing with this nation." 

Again, the missionary must, like Barnabas, be "full 
of the Holy Ghost." The Holy Spirit must dwell 
in him both as a Sanctifier and as a Power. He 
must be "endued" with that promised "power from 
on high." This, in fact, is to be his special prepara- 
tion for his work. Even the apostles, after all their 
advantages, of being taught by Jesus in person, of 
being endued with the gift of working miracles, of 
witnessing Christ's resurrection and ascension, were 
still to tarry in Jerusalem until they received the 
power of the Holy Spirit, as the crowning and essen- 
tial preparation for their work of preaching the gos- 
pel. How much more then do missionaries of the 
present day require that power. 

2. Another great essential characteristic, required 
in one who goes to the foreign field, is that he be a 
true missionary, in other words, that he possess a true 
missionary spirit. His missionary spirit must not 
be a spasmodic zeal, but a settled, operative princi- 
ple. He must believe in missions. He must believe 
when Christ commands his disciples to " go into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," 
that he means just what he says. 



58 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

He must believe that missions are of God. That 
he originated them, and that his providence and 
grace are constantly operating in their behalf. In 
giving himself to the missionary work, he should 
feel that he is acting solely on the authority, in 
accordance with the will, and for the glory, of God. 

He should believe also, that the "gospel is the 
power of God unto salvation," among the most 
degraded and hopeless in heathen lands, as well as 
among those most civilized and enlightened. In 
other words, he must not rely for ultimate success, 
upon the adventitious aid afforded by science, educa- 
tion, commerce, civilization and the like, but depend 
solely upon the power of the gospel, accompanied by 
the Holy Spirit. 

He should believe, too, that the gospel is destined 
to triumph. Any wavering upon this point, will 
produce vacillation and weakness in action on the 
field. He should believe, when Jesus teaches us to 
pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven," that God fully intends that 
this prayer shall be answered. Dr. Wayland says 
of Dr. Judson, — " It never appeared to him possible, 
for a moment, that God could fail to do precisely as 
he had said ; and he therefore relied on the divine 
assurance with a confidence that excluded all waver- 
ing. He believed that Burmah was to be converted 
to Christ, just as much as he believed that Burmah 
existed. He believed that he had been sent there to 
preach the gospel, and he as much believed that the 
Holy Ghost would make his labors, in some way, or 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED 59 

at some time, the means of the salvation of the nation, 
as he believed that there was a Holy Ghost." Such 
unwavering confidence in the power of the gospel 
and in its ultimate triumph, made Judson strong, 
and it will tend to make any missionary strong, 
while any lack of such confidence will tend to weak- 
ness. 

Again, the missionary should have breadth and 
unity of aim. It is a mistake to suppose that single- 
ness of aim, necessarily implies narrowness. The re- 
verse is true. It is the man of narrow views and 
plans, that is likely to change often from the pursuit 
of one object to another. It requires a great and no- 
ble object to command all the resources and labors 
and direct them to one end. The great, the one aim 
of all disciples and churches of Christ, of all Chris- 
tian ministers, and especially of all missionaries, 
should be the establishment of Christ's kingdom 
throughout the world. The accomplishment of this 
grand object should constitute "one all- pervading 
passion, one all-controlling purpose, binding their 
various and versatile efforts together, causing the 
whole to result, like the intricate motions of a com- 
plicated machine, in one entire effect. " The mission- 
ary having in view the establishment of Christ's 
kingdom throughout a heathen land, can say, " this 
one thing I do," and then all his varied duties, in 
every department of missionary labor will be directed 
to the one great end. He will have no relish nor 
time for selfish and irrelevant schemes and efforts. 
All his powers, and time, and toils will be laid upon 
5 



60 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

the altar of his Lord ; they will not be frittered away 
upon selfish and unworthy objects. 

Again, he who gives himself to the missionary 
work must have his heart in deep sympathy with 
that work, in other words, he must love it. A per- 
son who does not have a taste for a calling will not 
be likely to succeed in it. So if the missionary has 
not a taste and a sincere love for missionary work, — 
if it is not his meat and drink to preach Jesus to all 
classes, even the most degraded, and to "be instant in 
season, out of season," in teaching, " reproving, re- 
buking, exhorting with all long-suffering and doc- 
trine," if he is not willing to " make himself servant 
unto all, that he might gain the more/' and for the 
gospel's sake does not rejoice in being "made all 
things to all men, that he may by all means save 
some," in short, if he has not an undying passion for 
winning souls to Christ, then he cannot become a 
successful missionary. 

And closely allied to his love for the missionary 
work, must be a willingness to make sacrifices for it. 
The " mind " must be in him " which was also in 
Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation and 
took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men ; and being found in 
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." 
Such a spirit of humility and self-sacrifice for the 
good of others, must also inspire the heart of the mis- 
sionary, and indeed of every servant of God, or he 
will fail to attain to the highest usefulness and sue- 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 61 

cess in winning souls to Christ. Jesus " pleased not 
himself;'' so every disciple, every minister of the gos- 
pel, and every missionary especially, must not seek 
his own pleasure ; otherwise personal pleasures and 
predilections will often interfere wit.h the successful 
advancement of the great object. "It is enough for 
the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant 
as his lord;'' and just in his likeness to his Master, 
the servant of Christ will find his greatest usefulness, 
as well as happiness, 'in whatever sphere he may be 
called to labor. 

3. In the third place, missionaries should not only 
be pious, and thoroughly imbued with the missionary 
spirit, but they should also be able, efficient men. 
Some suppose that almost any good man will do for 
a missionary among ignorant degraded heathen. Or 
they at least think, that the home field, — the home 
pastorates require stronger men than the foreign field. 
Professors in theological seminaries have frequently 
discouraged young men of talent from going to the 
foreign field, with the plea, that "they are adapted 
for great usefulness in their own land, and cannot be 
spared/' implying that they have talents too great 
and precious to be expended upon the heathen. Of 
the twenty-eight missionaries at the Sandwich Islands 
in 1836, twenty reported that they "were encouraged 
by professors in theological seminaries, presidents of 
colleges, and other ministers, to dismiss the thought 
of becoming missionaries to the heathen, and stay at 
home, — the number thus advising amounting to sixty- 
two." They usually did not directly object. They 



62 THE FOEEIGN MISSION AKY. 

would admit that the cause of missions was a worthy 
one, but would add, "that all cannot and ought not 
to engage in it." " You should/' said they, " weigh 
the matter well ; perhaps others of a more plodding 
nature, and dry, and husky manner, would answer 
equally well for the heathen. Influence and talents 
are a precious gift to be appropriated in the best pos- 
sible manner." Not long after, they meet again, and 
the instructor quietly says, to one who is thinking of 
the foreign field, " I have a letter from the church 

in and they wish a minister, and should you, 

upon due deliberation, decide not to leave your 
country, I should take pleasure in recommending you 
to that church and people." I should like to hear a 
professor, or pastor, who can bring such an influence 
to bear upon a young man contemplating the foreign 
field, attempt to preach upon the great commission ; 
for he must either utterly fail to present the subject 
in its proper light, or severely condemn his own con- 
duct. Professors in colleges and theological semina- 
ries, have it largely in their power to determine the 
number and kind of men who shall become foreign 
missionaries. They also have the moulding of the 
missionary principles and character of most Of the 
leading pastors, who in turn have the training and 
give tone to the missionary spirit and character of the 
churches. How great their obligation to use their 
vast influence, not for narrow, selfish ends, thus re- 
tarding the progress of the missionary enterprise, but 
in advancing it, and promoting to the utmost in 
their power the extension of Christ's kingdom in the 
world ! 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 63 

In opposition to all low views of the kind of men 
required for the missionary work in a heathen land, I 
would quote the requisition made by the Holy Spirit 
upon the church at Antioch, " Separate me Barnabas 
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them," 
i. e., to labor as missionaries among the heathen. 
The church at Antioch, had they held such views as 
some at the present day, might have said, " Barna- 
bas and Saul are our ablest, best men, we need them 
for pastors in our great, learned and refined city, we 
cannot spare them ! Here are brethren Lucius and 
Manaen, they will answer as well to preach the gos- 
pel to the ignorant heathen." But the Holy Spirit 
did not so judge, nor so direct. I would also quote 
upon this subject the views of some possessing the 
widest knowledge and experience in conducting mod- 
ern missions. Dr. R,. Anderson, in speaking of the 
nature of the missionary work and the kind of men 
required, says, " With such scope for talent of all 
kinds, and with such demands for it, the answer to 
the question, ' What sort of men are needed V is ob- 
vious. We need the ablest and the best." Dr. 
Baron Stow says, "The men we need for effective 
service among the heathen, are not those whom na- 
ture has modeled upon a small scale, — men of puny 
minds, whose predestination is intellectual dwarfish- 
ness and imbecility ; but men whose mental structure 
includes no weak timbers, — men whose inward archi- 
tecture partakes largely of the sturdy and magnificent 
Doric, — men who, by the simple majesty of their na- 
tive qualifications would anywhere command the re- 

5* 



64 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

spect of the multitude." " There are fields/' he adds, 
" in which men of slender capacity may labor, and 
not without effect; but these fields are at home. 
To send such men to convert the pagan world, is more 
than inexpedient." 

Among the mental characteristics most essential to 
a foreign missionary, sound common sense is of the 
first importance. Dr. Stow, who was for many years 
a member of the Executive Committee of the Mis- 
sionary Union, and had much experience in selecting 
candidates for the foreign field, says, respecting "prac- 
tical good sense," " No where is this quality so im- 
portant as in the missionary, and especially the mis- 
sionary pioneer, whose least indiscretion might jeop- 
ard interests of the greatest magnitude. Experience," 
he adds, (i has taught some lessons upon this subject, 
which it is undesirable should be repeated, and the 
question, * Has he good sense V is sure to be propound- 
ed, respecting every candidate for missionary service. 
And they who know the most of the peculiar charac- 
ter of that service, having been the longest on the 
high places of the field, and become the most deeply 
interested in the success of the enterprise, are pressing 
this question the most closely, and insisting upon an 
unqualified and unequivocal answer. Has he good 
sense ? practical wisdom ? Is he careful, circumspect, 
judicious ?" 

The missionary on entering his field in a foreign 
land, finds himself in such new and untried circum- 
stances, that- he needs great practical good sense to 
enable him to adapt himself to his strange position. 



KIND OF MEN KEQUIKED. 65 

He will find abundant scope for this quality in learn- 
ing the language,, in commencing and prosecuting his 
labors, in preaching, in visiting, in' dealing with the 
natives in temporal as well as spiritual matters, in 
establishing missions, organizing churches, selecting 
and training preachers, in instructing and elevating 
the people generally ; in short, every day, in every 
department of labor, during his whole missionary 
life, he will require that intuitive practical wisdom or 
good sense, that in the absence of precedents, and of 
counsel from others, will serve as a prompt a»d safe 
guide. Such a missionary was John Williams of the 
South Sea Islands, who went out an uneducated me- 
chanic. His sterling common sense, and practical 
good judgment, enabled him to outstrip his educated 
colleagues in acquiring the language, though he la- 
bored hard daily at the forge, while they devoted 
themselves to study. It enabled him to excel them 
in the efficiency and success with which he prosecu- 
ted his work, and at length constituted him a very 
prince among missionaries. 

Closely allied to this quality, the missionary needs 
great self-reliance. He has not the aids, the prece- 
dents, the advice and counsels, the settled mode of 
doing things, that the laborer in the home field has. 
Often he must act, and act promptly, in entire reli- 
ance upon his own judgment, in cases perhaps, of 
much difficulty, under circumstances quite new and 
untried. Often his self-reliance and decision of char- 
acter will be taxed to the utmost; and all the more 
if he is a conscientious and judicious man. Such 



66 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

crises, and they are not few in a missionary's life, will 
show the stuff of which a man is made, and whether 
his mental or moral structure includes any "weak 
timbers" or not. 

He also requires in an eminent degree, the faculty 
of perseverance. He should be able to hold on his 
way in spite of all obstacles and all discouragements. 
I know no calling requiring so much of indomitable 
perseverance as the missionary life. 

Again, the foreign field affords ample scope for the 
most diversified practical knowledge. 

The missionary should know men, — should under- 
stand human nature in an eminent degree. He has 
to deal with the most subtle workings of perverse 
human nature. The heathen mind develops Satanic 
skill in deception and treachery. In these acts, 
those brought up in a Christian land are no match 
for them. Hence, the missionary in his conscientious- 
ness, is exceedingly liable to be frequently deceived 
by the natives with whom he has dealings, both in 
religious and temporal matters. Unless he has some 
skill in discerning character, he will often be imposed 
upon by impostors, and some, under feigned Christian 
professions, may even get into the church. He may 
perhaps trust those who are unworthy, and distrust 
those who are worthy. And sometimes he will be 
appalled at the depth of fiendish treachery, of which 
he has been the innocent dupe; while his deceivers, 
with brazen-faced impudence when discovered, will 
only laugh at his "greenness" and stupidity in not 
detecting the fraud sooner. 



KIND OF MEN KEQTTIKED. 67 

It would also be found very useful for the mission- 
ary to have some knowledge of civil law. He will 
often be called upon to settle disputes, or give advice 
in matters involving the rights of property or per- 
son, or civil rights. And he should be prepared to 
give his converts from heathenism some instruction 
respecting the principles of common and civil, as well 
as moral law. And such are the treaty and com- 
mercial relations of Christian with heathen nations, 
and such the relation of the missionary to both, that 
he may sometimes find some knowledge of the law of 
nations, and maritime law, to be of great value. 

He will also have daily occasion to use any medi- 
cal knowledge that he may possess. He will have con- 
stant appeals from the heathen, and from the Chris- 
tians, to administer to the relief of their bodily ail- 
ments ; and often, kindness administered to the body 
will open the heart to receive spiritual benefits. 

Some practical knowledge of architecture or build- 
ing, and of some mechanical trade, will also be 
found very useful. The missionary in a heathen land, 
must usually be the architect^ superintendent, and 
sometimes journeyman, in erecting his own dwelling- 
house, his school-rooms, and his chapels. Often too, 
he is called to teach the natives how to build more 
neat, substantial, and healthy dwellings, and to give 
more or less information in various handicrafts. 

Moreover, every missionary should know how to 
keep account's. He has constant occasion to keep 
accounts with his Missionary Society, with the natives 
with w T hom he does business, with those who labor 



68 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

for him, with his school-teachers, his native preach- 
ers, with those of whom he rents houses, and with all 
others who assist in the missionary work, as printers,' 
Bible-readers, and boatmen. 

Again, the foreign mission-field affords abundant 
scope for the best preaching talent. The heathen 
appreciate eloquent preaching, and are moved by it 
about as readily as those reared in a Christian land. 
All the dwellers in the heathen countries of the East, 
are very fond of vivid imagery, apt illustrations, 
witty repartee, smooth flowing language, and a polite 
and graceful address. They themselves, not having 
much ability or taste for reading, living in dense 
communities, having much leisure, and a great love 
for gossip, become almost invariably great proficients 
in talking ; and if a person cannot talk so as to in- 
terest a company, he is set down as a dunce. And 
a missionary, if he has not a fair share of ability to 
speak and interest an audience, will be placed in 
about the same category. He will be unpopular and 
will lose his heathen hearers more quickly than a 
dry preacher would lose his congregation in this 
country, for here religious principle or habit might 
keep it together, while the eloquence and skill of the 
preacher alone could retain a heathen congregation. 
The missionary ought also to be able to set an exam- 
ple of effective preaching, to the native preachers. 
They, as a general rule, will copy the manner of the 
foreign missionary, and if he is an indifferent preach- 
er, the natives trained by him will be likely to be so 
also. Or should the native preachers excel the mis- 



KIND OF MEN EEQUIEED. 69 

sionary, as they very probably will if he is a poor 
speaker, it will be derogatory to his influence and his 
usefulness. No one need fear that the foreign field 
will not afford, the most ample scope for the very best 
preaching talent. 

Again, it is very important that a missionary pos- 
sess the organizing and administrative faculty. It is 
said of a missionary in India, that he was very popu- 
lar as a preacher, — would move a native audience 
wonderfully. But he went from place to place con- 
tinually preaching as an evangelist. The result was, 
he had scarcely any visible success. He did not or- 
ganize success, i. e., he did not stay long enough in 
one place to follow up impressions and win converts, 
nor did he aim at organizing churches. Hence, not- 
withstanding he was a great preacher, his life work 
was a failure. He sowed his seed by the wayside, 
and "the fowls of the air devoured it." How differ- 
ent would have been the result if he had watched, 
and watered and cultivated the seed sown, and 
gathered in the fruit; he would have had a garden of 
the Lord to show, instead of a barren waste. All the 
labor of ploughing and sowing will be lost, if the crop 
be not garnered. So missionary labors will be lost, 
if the results are not gathered up and put into an 
organized and enduring form. The Apostle Paul is 
our example in this respect. He tarried long enough 
in a place to gain converts ; he then formed them into 
a church ; next he "confirmed them in the faith," and 
" appointed elders " to watch over and instruct the 
church, Thus the Apostle organized success as he 



70 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

went along, and thus success was rendered complete 
and enduring. The missionary must also have the 
faculty of putting every thing in order; organize 
disciples immediately into churches; appoint suit- 
able elders over them; see that the ordinances are 
regularly administered ; that the churches are duly 
instructed and confirmed in the faith ; thus should he 
be able to lay the foundations of Christian institutions 
deep, regular, and permanent. The importance of 
this faculty of organizing will be especially apparent 
also, when we contemplate the missionary in his po- 
sition as overseer or bishop of his mission. As his 
work enlarges, the general direction and oversight of 
several churches, and several native preachers, with 
all the regulations that pertain to them, must neces- 
sarily, in a great degree, devolve upon the missionary. 
Some of the missionaries in Burmah have each some- 
times had the care — been the bishops in the true Scrip- 
tural sense — of from fifty to eighty or more churches, 
from seventy to a hundred or more native preachers ; 
also numerous out-stations, and many schools. Our 
missionary, Thomas, when called, on account of fail- 
ing health, to leave the field, and immediately on 
reaching his native land, called to his "rest," had 
charge of fifty churches, containing over 2,000 living 
members ; seventy native preachers, nine ordained ; 
seventy out-stations ; one normal school, and forty -five 
primary schools; all raised up and put into organized 
operation by that one apostle of Jesus Christ during 
a ministry of eighteen years! What would a man 
that had not, in an eminent degree, the ability to 



KIND OF MEN KEQTJIKED. 71 

organize, or a mentally weak or small man, do in 
such a position ? From an experience of my own for 
several years, on a small scale, of the responsibilities 
and difficulties, and demand upon all the faculties 
and resources of a man in such a position, I fully 
believe that, in a missionary having such a charge, 
there are required more administrative and organizing 
ability, and indeed more varied ability and attainments 
in every respect, than are generally required in a pas- 
tor, or college professor or president, in the home field. 

Again, the foreign field affords ample scope for the 
highest culture and attainments in learning. The 
missionary must become master of a new and difficult 
language. He must translate the Scriptures, or trans- 
late or write books and tracts in that language, not 
only on religious, but often also on scientific subjects. 
He must learn to speak and preach accurately and 
effectively in strange and difficult dialects. He must 
educate his native preachers, and train them for their 
work. In his theological seminary he alone must be 
president, and professor in almost every department. 

Moreover, he is often called upon to act as inter- 
preter and translator to officials and commercial men, 
though he ought to avoid such work as far as possi- 
ble. Judson, one of the most single-eyed of mission- 
aries, was nevertheless called by the inexorable force 
of circumstances, to do an important work as inter- 
preter and translator for the English and Burman 
governments. Morrison did the same in China. 

The missionary is also called to enrich the stores 
of the world's knowledge of geography, geology, na- 
6 



72 THE FOKEIGN MISSION AEY. 

tural history, ethnography, ethnology, and especially 
philology. In all these departments the learned world 
is greatly indebted to missionaries, and there are vast 
fields still to explore. Missionaries in the very nature 
of the case, visiting and dwelliug in all lands, traver- 
sing and becoming thoroughly acquainted with the 
geography, the people, the languages and literature 
of those lands, will be obliged to continue to contri- 
bute their share to the general enlightenment and 
elevation of the race. 

In general, then, how can it, with any show of 
reason, be said, that, " men of inferior abilities will 
do for missionaries ?'' Does it then require but 
small ability to learn difficult dialects and languages; 
to translate the Bible, and prepare a Christian and 
scientific literature in foreign languages ; to enrich 
all languages with scientific and literary knowledge ; 
to eloquently and effectively preach the gospel in for- 
eign tongues; to successfully conduct missions in 
ancient, ignorant, and self-conceited heathen nations, 
in opposition to hoary religions, subtle sophistries, 
acute metaphysical speculations, and atheistic phil- 
osophies ? Is it a light work, adapted to a narrow, 
weak mind, to raise up churches of God, and 
preachers of the gospel; to superintend numerous 
schools, to be the bishop of many churches ; and to 
be the educator of Christian teachers, Christian min- 
isters and pastors, who are to give form and tone to 
Christian institutions of whole nations for all genera- 
tions ? 

An aged missionary once remarked to me that 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 73 

"we need men in the foreign field who can act as 
generals," not in authority, but in overseeing and 
directing all the rank and file of the native Chris- 
tian hosts in their onsets upon heathenism, and in 
promoting the extension of Christ's kingdom. 

Dr. R. Anderson, than whom there is no man in 
America better acquainted with the subject, or better 
able to judge respecting the kind of men demanded 
in the foreign field, used the following language, — 
" It is a well-known fact that the military academy 
at West Point furnished leaders for both the con- 
tending armies in the late war. And leaders of a 
similar grade are required in the foreign missions, 
and for similar reasons. The incipient work of 
planting, organizing, and training churches, composed 
of converts from heathenism, even in the most bar- 
barous countries, requires more talent than is ordi- 
narily demanded for the pastoral office at; home. 
For you have to deal with a strange people, and a 
strange language, with strange manners and customs, 
with consciences dead or altogether perverted, with 
religions more depraved than human nature itself, 
and with social life that is rotten to the core. * * * 
There is useful and ample scope in such a field for 
talent of the highest grade. Taking the average of 
labors and results in the heathen world, I do not 
believe that the pastoral life of our own favored 
country can show more abundant fruits. The elo- 
quent preacher, when once he has acquired the lan- 
guage finds his talent not less effective there than 
here. And the demand for varied and cultivated 



74 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

talent is nearly the same in all the fields, as well in 
Polynesia and Africa, as in India and China. As the 
mission advances, giving rise to churches, schools, a 
native ministry, and a Christian community, there 
arises also a demand for what is called the organizing 
and administrative talent, more varied and more im- 
perative than can often occur in our home pastoral 
life." 

The opinion of the Burman missionaries respecting 
the kind of men needed there, is indicated in their 
appeal for " twenty men of the flower of your rising 
ministry ." 

In thus opposing the view that great abilities and 
acquirements will not find full scope for usefulness 
in the foreign field, and in advocating that able men 
should be sent, I would not on the other hand, dis- 
courage any brother who takes a modest view of his 
own abilities, from going to that field. A man of 
moderate talents, if he is a man of God, and has a 
heart' deeply enlisted in the work, will be very useful 
in the foreign field, or at least he could do as much 
good as in case he remained at home. While the 
ablest man, if he lacks spiritual qualifications, will 
make a pitiful failure as a missionary. 

It is evident, in view of the facts of the case, that 
to labor as a missionary in a heathen land, does not 
tend, as some seem to suppose, to mental dwarfish- 
ness and imbecility. On this point, permit me again 
to quote from Dr. R. Anderson. " I believe," he 
says, " there is as much of mental development in 
missionaries, as there is in the home ministry. * * 



KIND OF MEN" REQUIRED. 75 

I account for it by the fact, that, with the more in- 
telligent missionaries the pressure is not less upon 
the mental faculties, than it is in the pastoral office 
at home ; and this is as true in the more barbarous 
heathen countries, as it is in the more civilized. I 
even think, that the mental pressure upon the in- 
telligent and conscientious missionary, is often greater 
than it is upon his brethren at home. For he finds 
that there is everything to be done, and he is the 
only one to do it. He must, morally speaking, be 
feet to the lame, eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, 
and must almost reconstruct the intellect, and almost 
recreate the conscience. Did this responsibility come 
upon the missionary all at once, he could not bear 
it ; but come it will, sooner or later, and the in- 
telligent and faithful missionary need fear no loss of 
stimulus to his mind. It is the same that operated 
on the mind and heart of the apostle to the Gentiles ; 
and it will increase with his years, especially in its 
demands upon the judging and administrative 
powers." 

4. Closely connected with the importance of good 
mental ability in a missionary, good health is requi- 
site. A missionary's usefulness and success will 
depend very much on his health. Indeed, however 
great his intellectual ability, and however perfect his 
Christian character and fitness, he cannot be a strong 
man, and successful missionary, without a fair mea- 
sure of health. Ill health often renders the mind 
nervous, irritable, and morbid, and hence unfit for 
good, effective labor. 

6* 



76 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

5. A missionary as a general rule, should also be 
a married man. He needs a home, where be may 
have care in sickness, and find repose and refresh- 
ment from his trying and exhausting toils. A good 
wife will also greatly encourage and assist him in his 
work. She can find access to the women, which in 
most heathen lands are very exclusive, and cannot 
be reached by an unmarried missionary. A mis- 
sionary will be more respected, and have far greater 
influence for good, in a heathen community, if he is 
married. Occasionally a missionary may be very 
useful, especially if engaged in pioneer work, though 
single ; but as a rule he should, beyond all reasona- 
ble doubt be married. I would say with Dr. 
Anderson, that " with an intelligent, pious, well 
educated wife, having good health and a devoted 
spirit, his value as a missionary is greatly enhanced." 
Some have said that his usefulness is "more than 
doubled." 

6. It is evident that he must be a worker. The 
position of a missionary in a heathen land is no sine- 
cure. His duties are so multifarious, that he needs 
business-tact, energy, and persevering industry, for 
their successful performance. His is no place for a 
drone. No lazy man should enter the foreign field. 
He should delight in hard work, and his soul should 
be fired with quenchless zeal in laboring for the 
salvation of souls. 

7. Finally, the missionary among the heathen 
should possess physical and moral courage. His 
work will often bring him into danger — danger from 



KIND OF MEN REQUIRED. 77 

the savage character of the people among whom he 
labors, or from their hostility to foreigners or to a 
foreign religion, or from robbers and pirates. Though 
he is not rashly to run into danger, nor to seek the 
merit of a martyr's death, yet he should have the 
courage to do his duty in the prosecution of his work, 
though in the face of danger. 

It requires also no small amount of moral courage 
to stand before an ignorant, vicious crowd, not accus- 
tomed to orderly assemblies, in whose hearts the 
speaker is aware there rankles more or less of suspi- 
cion, of contempt, of captiousness, of hate, or of mere 
curiosity, or of stolid indifference. To proclaim to 
such a congregation truths new and unpalatable, 
taxes a man's nerve to the utmost, and demands a 
resolution that shall break through all diffidence, and 
a moral courage that shall rise above all fear. 



78 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MOTIVES TO ENGAGE IN THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY 
WORK. 

IN" considering the motives that should actuate a 
person to engage in the foreign missionary work, 
it may be well, first to glance at a few unworthy 
motives. His motives will have much to do with a 
missionary's usefulness and happiness in his work. 
Hence every one contemplating the foreign field, 
should look well to his motives. He should ask him- 
self the question, " Will the motives with which I am 
actuated sustain and carry me through all the diffi- 
culties, trials, and discouragements incident to a 
missionary life in a heathen land ?" 

If any person gives himself to the foreign mission- 
ary work entertaining romantic motives, if they are 
tinctured by what has been termed the "poetry of 
missions ; " or if he is actuated by a curiosity to see 
the world ; or if he has a lurking idea to a permanent 
support and an easy life ; or secretly entertains a vain 
notion of holding a somewhat conspicuous position ; 
or if he is excited with a sudden, enthusiastic desire 
to emulate the example of some " hero missionary ; " 
or if he entertains any other unworthy or spasmodic 
motive, he should not deceive himself, such motives 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 79 

will not stand the test of trial, and certain disappoint- 
ment and failure await him. Nor will his motives 
be better, if he cherishes the idea that his ability as 
a preacher will not enable him to take a high position 
in the home field, but will do to labor among the 
heathen ; nor if he hopes after a temporary period to 
retire from the foreign field, and perhaps be able to 
make his missionary standing a stepping-stone to re- 
spect at home. 

I am "persuaded better things " of most of my 
brethren, "though I thus speak." Still, it is not 
without cause that reference is made to such unworthy 
motives. A student once mentioned in my hearing, 
as one motive that inclined him to the foreign field, 
that his "name and labors would thus be brought 
more prominently before the churches, and be more 
widely known." Fortunately, he was not sent to the 
foreign field, and he has since given up the ministry. 
If a student has any worldly or other sinister motive, 
either in desiring to go as a missionary, or to enter the 
pastorate at home, he had better stop where he is, and 
not profane holy ground with his unhallowed feet. 
With such a motive in his heart, he is not fit for the 
sacred ministry anywhere, and he had better retire to 
a secular calling. 

There is also a grade of higher motives that still 
are not sufficient to sustain the foreign missionary in 
his work. "Mere philosophers will not go on such 
missions, and mere philanthropists would not remain 
long, should they happen to go. Impulsive, unre- 
flecting piety will give out before the day of embark- 



80 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

ation, or retire ere the language has been acquired, or 
the battle has fairly begun. Fine conceptions of the 
beautiful in social life, glowing apprehensions of pas- 
toral duty, broad and elevated views of the nature 
and relations of theological truth are not sufficient to 
give enduring life to the zeal of a missionary. Some- 
thing more than all this is needed. There must be 
the grand aim, the living, undying purpose of recon- 
ciling men to God, and thus extending the kingdom 
of the blessed Redeemer. There needs to be a real 
enthusiasm, sustained by a spiritualized doctrinal ex- 
perience, and by the powers of the world to come. 
Nothing short of this will keep the foreign missionary 
cheerfully and long in the field. "* 

What, then, are the true motives to engage in the 
foreign missionary work ? 

1. The constraining "love of Christ," I place first, 
and as the foundation of all other motives. " For the 
love of Christ constraineth us." The term " con- 
straineth " means " surround and urge on every side." 
This motive does not require discussion ; it is a direct 
appeal to the Christian heart. My brother, let the 
love of your personal Redeemer, the great, model mis- 
sionary, — that love that constrained him to leave 
heaven, and come down to earth on a mission of 
mercy to the unworthy and guilty ; let that same com- 
passionate love constrain you to imitate his example, 
and go upon a like mission. Do you shrink from 
leaving the society of your dear friends and relatives, 
and all the sweet, Christian influences of your native 

* Foreign Missions, p. 167. 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 81 

land ? Do you feel that it would be too great a sac- 
rifice to give up all these for a life among degraded 
heathen, to be a constant witness of their forgetfulness 
of God, their vices, and their abominable idolatries ; 
to be treated with coldness, contempt, and perhaps 
bitter hatred, while wearing out your life for their 
good ; to have your messages of love and mercy met 
with indiiFerence or opposition, and perhaps with per- 
secution, and even a violent death ? And yet, are any 
or all these trials worthy to be compared with the 
sacrifices that Jesus made in carrying out his mis- 
sion of love to you ? In the language of another, 
" Let the love of a Crucified Saviour surround us. 
Let it be the circumambient atmosphere we breathe, 
and in which our souls are steeped ; the all- penetra- 
ting, all-pervading, all-animating, all-inflaming mo- 
tive. What motive like this to kindle our languid 
affections ; much forgiven, and yet but little love ! 
My soul, can this be possible ? What motive like 
this to eradicate the wretched selfishness of our na- 
ture ? Why does Jesus die ? Why but that ' they 
who live should live no more to themselves, but to 
Him who gave Himself for them ?' Where such a 
motive to fortify us with holy endurance of hardness? 
Have the members anything to do with roses, while 
the head is crowned with thorns ? In short, what 
an incentive in this love for the noblest self-sacrifice 
and benevolent labors !" O my brethren, do you 
know the love of Christ ; do you study that love ; 
do you feel the constraining power of that love? 
Then you carry in your own hearts an all-sufficient 



82 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

motive to toil in any land, and make any sacrifices 
demanded by the glory of Christ, and the extension 
of His kingdom. 

2. Closely allied to this is the motive found in the 
very nature of the Christian's consecration. Dear 
readers, if you are indeed Christians, " ye are not 
your own." You are " redeemed with the precious 
blood of Christ." " Ye are bought with a price: 
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your 
spirit, which are God's." You owe all that you are, 
and have, and hope for, to your Creator, your Re- 
deemer, and your Sanctifier. Hence to "present 
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
God, is your reasonable service." Your true attitude 
is that of entire consecration to the service of God. 
You are to know no will but God's. It is a small 
thing to say, but a great thing to realize — consecra- 
tion implies that selfishness is cast out of the heart. 
"What then has the servant of God, who is inquiring 
as to his field of labor, to do with his own tastes and 
predilections ? What right has he to yield to any 
worldly or selfish motive in deciding where he will 
labor for Christ ? The very nature of his Christian 
consecration and vows, should lead him to be per- 
fectly willing, to say the least, to go wherever duty 
calls. 

3. Are other motives required, then take the great 
commission. That commission grew directly out of 
Christ's mission to the earth. He left it as the 
standing order for his disciples ; thus laying upon 
them as their special obligation, the work of promul- 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 83 

gating his gospel throughout the world. Note the 
varied language in which it is given. " Go ye into 
all the world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture." (Mark xvi. 15.) "All power is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
(Matt, xxv iii. 18,19.) " But ye shall receive power, 
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye 
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in 
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth." (Acts i. 8.) "This gospel of 
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for 
a witness unto all nations." (Matt. xxiv. 14.) " I saw 
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the 
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 
the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people." (Rev. xiv. 6.) 

The great commission as expressed in these various 
forms, contains a few points of special importance, to 
which I wish to call attention. First, it is direct 
and personal. " Go ye." It is not send ye, work 
by proxy, shift the responsibility upon some one else. 
The obligation that it lays upon every Christian, and 
especially upon every preacher of the gospel, to do 
all in his power to " preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture," cannot by any sophistry be set aside or evaded. 
You may try, my brother, to think and act as though 
the "discipling " of the heathen nations were no par- 
ticular concern of yours. But you nevertheless, 
have a share in that work. Christ's command lays 
7 



84 THE FOKEI&BT MISSIOHAEY. 

that responsibility upon you, and by no means can 
you shirk it. Some persons speak of " a call " to be 
a foreign missionary. As though the explicit com- 
mand of Christ to " preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture " were not a sufficient " call." What call to 
engage in the foreign missionary work, can be more 
authoritative and divine than that commission of the 
great Head of the Church ? What other call can 
any man reasonably require ? The sooner Christians 
divest their minds of the notion that to be a foreign 
missionary is something out of the ordinary course of 
duty, the better for them and for the cause of missions. 
The heroic age of missions, when missionaries were 
regarded as martyrs or demi-gods, has passed away, 
and it is well that it has. It is a hopeful sign that 
missionaries are not now so much " lionized " as for- 
merly. It is well that the "romance of missions" 
should pass away, and that the foreign missionary 
Work should in the estimation of all, come down to 
the dead level of ordinary duty; and that to go as a 
foreign missionary should not be regarded as at all 
extraordinary, or as specially praiseworthy, but as 
simply obeying Christ's command. If any reader is 
Waiting for a "voice from heaven" before he can de- 
cide that it is his duty to be a missionary, let him be 
assured that the only voice he will hear will be the 
last command of his ascended Lord, and the only 
sign he will behold, will be the sign of God's provi- 
dence opening and preparing the fields and bidding 
him enter in and labor. 

Secondly, notice the greatness of the work com- 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 85 

manded. " The field is the world." Not one little 
parish, nor one state, nor one nation, even though it 
is " our great American nation," nor one continent ; 
but " Go ye into all the world." The work to be 
done is to " preach the everlasting Gospel to e very- 
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people;" to 
"preach it to every creature;" nay, more, to "make 
disciples of all n:\tions." The point that I wish to 
make here is, that every Christian, and especially 
every Christian minister, is in duty bound to make 
the conversion of the world the aim of all his labors. 
Hence, when students for the ministry, or others, 
are considering the question of duty as to a field of 
labor, the whole should turn upon this single inquiry, 
Where can I do most towards the conversion of the 
world to Christ ? Can I do more for the accomplish- 
ment of this grand object by laboring in my native 
land, then it is my duty to remain here ; but if I 
can do more towards the world's conversion by going 
to a heathen land, then I am in duty bound to make 
that my field of labor. The broad view, the great 
enterprise, as it was presented by the Master, should 
ever be kept before the mind of the laborer. All 
narrow and selfish views and motives should be dis- 
carded ; they should have no place. If, my brother, 
you are picturing to yourself a faithful, loving 
church, a nice parsonage, a large library, a quiet, 
easy life, much to enjoy, and not much to do, and 
that little to be done for yourself and your church, 
with no care beyond; or if your cherished vision 
be, the pastorate of a large wealthy church, a fat 



86 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

salary, a splendid church edifice, a fashionable audi- 
ence, hard labor to elaborate popular sermons, that 
shall make yourself a name in the land ; or if your 
beau-ideal be a professorship or presidency in some 
college or seminary, where you can bury yourself in 
books, and gain the reputation of being a learned 
doctor ; if such be the nature of your aspirations and 
schemes, then I beg you to consider that they are di- 
rectly opposed to the spirit of the commission that 
calls you to the ministry of the gospel. They ignore 
the specific and grand object towards which you are 
required to aim, and to which you are to make all 
your purposes, plans and labors subservient, and 
they put in its place your own little insignificant self. 
They violate the great law of that commission which 
is as unchangeable as the fiat of God, as comprehen- 
sive and uncompromising in its claims as are the 
rights of Christ in the redeemed soul. The com- 
mand of a military chieftain must be obeyed though 
it leads into the jaws of death, and still more impe- 
rious is the order of our great Captain. In any 
great war, however extensive the theatre of its opera- 
tions, its officers and soldiers however numerous, the 
duties to be performed however varied, the ranks 
and divisions of the armies however multiplied, and 
their movements and evolutions however extended 
and intricate, yet are they all directed to one great 
end which is never lost sight of for a moment. So 
also all soldiers of Christ, whatever their position in 
the church or in society, and wherever their place of 
labor whether at home or abroad, whether they be 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 87 

pastors, professors or missionaries, they are ever to 
place before them the ultimate object of the campaign 
in which they and all the hosts of their great Chief- 
tain are engaged, viz., the reclaiming of a revolted 
world from the power of Satan, and bringing it back 
to allegiance to God. All wishes, plans, abilities, 
power, wealth, labors, avocations, all must be diverted 
from selfish objects, and be directed to the attainment 
of the great end. 

Moreover, every one engaged in this campaign 
must be willing to " endure hardness as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ," and must not "entangle himself 
with the affairs of this life, that he may please him 
who hath chosen him to be a soldier." He must press 
on in the path that his Captain points out whatever 
may oppose. Thus, if one is convinced that it is his 
duty to labor in the foreign field, and his parents or 
other relatives on selfish grounds oppose, or if he is 
engaged to be married and his affianced for trivial rea- 
sons objects, or if churches and influential advisers, 
on the plea that he cannot be spared, dissuade, then 
should the voice of Jesus, as it was once heard calm- 
ing the angry waves of Galilee, be heard above them 
all, and by them all, silencing the clamor of all oppo- 
sition. He should imitate the example of the apostle 
Paul, — " When it pleased God to reveal his Son in 
me, that I might preach him among the heathen, 
immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." 

Another point to be noticed in the commission is, 
it guarantees the requisite aid and power for ac- 
complishing the work required. "All power is given 

7* 



S» THE FOEEIGN MISSIONAEY. 

unto me in heaven and in earth." " Lo, I am with you 
always even unto the end of the world." " Ye shall 
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
upon you." Thus the plea, with which some who 
ought to go as foreign missionaries, would fain ex- 
cuse themselves, "Who is sufficient for these things?" 
cannot avail, for all required aid and power is prom- 
ised. 

Another encouraging feature is the promised suc- 
cess. " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 
in all the world for a witness unto all nations." The 
"angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the 
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 
the earth," is not to rest his foot or fold his pinions, 
until he shall have proclaimed it " to every nation, 
and kindred, and tongue, and people." While the 
bare command affords abundant incentive to engage 
in the missionary work, without stopping to count 
the cost, or estimate results, still it is inspiring to 
feel assured that the enterprise in which we engage is 
destined to succeed. And this assurance removes all 
ground for the excuse sometimes made for not going 
on a mission, that " missions in heathen lands have 
but small success." 

4. Another important motive to engage personally 
in this work, is the duty and privilege of carrying 
the gospel into " the regions beyond," L e., into re- 
gions where churches do not exist, and where Christ 
is not named. This is God's mode of extending his 
kingdom. It is not his plan, as it seems to be that 
of some professing Christians at the present day., to 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 89 

entirely evangelize one nation before entering others, 
and which is often sententiously expressed in the 
phrase, " The heathen are at our doors." The apos- 
tles and primitive Christians were to begin at Jeru- 
salem, but they were not to end there, nor tarry there 
long. Thence they were to go forth as " witnesses 
unto Christ," " in all Judea and in Samaria, and un- 
to the uttermost parts of the earth." They did not 
remain in Jerusalem until all the Jews and heathen 
there were converted. God allowed a persecution to 
soon scatter the disciples abroad, and they "went 
everywhere preaching the word." At Antioch a large 
church was ere long gathered. But while vast num- 
bers in that city were still unconverted, " the Holy 
Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the 
work whereunto I have called them," viz. the work 
of preaching the gospel among the heathen of Asia 
Minor. But when they had preached the gospel, 
and formed churches throughout but about half of 
Asia Minor, " they were forbidden of the Holy Spirit 
to preach the word in Asia," and when they attempt- 
ed to go and preach in the remaining provinces " the 
Spirit suffered them not." But in vision, "There 
stood a man of Macedonia praying Paul, saying, 
Come over into Macedonia and help us." And they 
did not tarry in Macedonia long. When they had 
formed churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, 
they passed on to Athens and Corinth, and subse- 
quently to Italy and Rome, and perhaps Spain ; and 
before the end of the second century the gospel had 
been preached and churches formed in every known 



90 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

country in the world. This was God's plan, to kin- 
dle up lights in the great centres, thence to radiate 
into the regions around until their effulgence should 
blend and illuminate the whole earth with the glori- 
ous light of the gospel. The apostle to the Gentiles 
rejoiced in this plan. In his second Epistle to the 
Corinthians he speaks with evident satisfaction of 
preaching the gospel in " the regions beyond " them. 

The reason why the apostle delighted so much to 
preach the gospel in the regions beyond, was, as he 
informs us, so as " not to boast in another man's line 
of things made ready to our hand," i. e., he did not 
like to boast in another man's field of labor, of labors 
that he found already performed. So in his epistle 
to the Romans, xv. 20, in speaking of the wide ex- 
tent of country through which he had preached the 
gospel, he declares, " Yea, so have I strived to preach 
the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should 
build upon another man's foundation;'' and with this 
mode of labor the prophetic declaration agreed, " To 
whom he was not spoken of, they shall see ; and they 
that have not heard shall understand." 

Many a missionary in modern times, has had a 
similar satisfaction in preaching Christ where he was 
not known, and establishing Christian churches where 
none had ever before existed. Such a privilege and 
happiness any faithful minister of Christ may honor- 
ably covet, and may also if he chooses, enjoy. And 
that of itself is no small inducement to devote one's 
life to the preaching of the gospel in a heathen land. 
Judging from my own experience, I can wish a 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 91 

preacher of the gospel no greater success and happi- 
ness in his ministerial work, than to have the privi- 
lege of laying the foundations of Christian institu- 
tions in barbarous, or but partially civilized regions, 
where the name of Christ is not known, — to raise up 
churches of the living God to shine as lights in the 
midst of the darkness, — to build up spiritual temples 
composed of living stones, gathered from the dead 
mass of heathendom. 

5. Another motive for engaging in the foreign 
missionary work is, the reflex benefits that would 
thus be conferred upon our own land. It is fully be- 
lieved by those who have given most careful atten- 
tion to the subject, that those who have gone forth 
and labored as missionaries in heathen lands, have 
done more for the cause of Christ, and of truth in 
their own land than they would have done had they 
remained at home. The reflex influence of foreign 
missions is very great. In the limits of this section 
I can only refer to them in the briefest manner. 

Missionary operations have tended to break up 
that monotony and dull routine, which lull to sleep, 
and tend to reduce religion to a mere form without 
the power. On the other hand, they have called out 
the Christian sympathies and graces, enlivened the 
piety, and increased the happiness of Christians. 
The word of God has been verified, "He that 
watereth shall be watered also himself." (Pro v. xxi. 
25.) The manner in which the missionary enterprise 
quickens the piety and increases the happiness of 
Christians, is well illustrated by its effects upon the 



92 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

church of which Andrew Fuller was pastor. " There 
was a period of my ministry," he says, " marked by 
the most pointed systematic effort to comfort my 
serious people ; but the more I tried to comfort them, 
the more they complained of doubts and darkness. 
* * * At this time it pleased God to direct my 
attention to the claims of the perishing heathen in 
India ; I felt that we had been living for ourselves, 
and not caring for their souls. I spoke as I felt. 
My serious people wondered and wept over their past 
inattention to the subject. They began to talk about 
a Baptist mission. The females especially began to 
collect money for the spread of the gospel. We met 
and prayed for the heathen ; met and considered 
what could be done among ourselves for them ; met 
and did what we could. And, whilst all this was 
going on, the lamentations ceased. The sad became 
cheerful, and the desponding calm. No one com- 
plained of a want of comfort. And I, instead of 
having to study how to comfort my flock, was myself 
comforted by them. They were drawn out of them- 
selves. That was the real secret. God blessed them 
while they tried to be a blessing." In one of the 
early reports of the English Baptist Mission, the re- 
flex influence of their mission work is thus described. 
"A new bond of union was formed between distant 
ministers and churches. Some, who had backslidden 
from God, were restored ; and others, who had long 
been poring over their unfruitfulness, and question- 
ing the reality of their personal religion, having their 
attention directed to Christ and his kingdom, lost 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WOBK. 93 

their fears, and found that peace which in other pur- 
suits they had sought in vain. In short, our hearts 
were enlarged ; and if no other good had arisen from 
the undertaking than the effect produced upon our 
own minds, and the minds of Christians in our own 
country, it was more than equal to the expense." 
Thousands of churches of the various evangelical de- 
nominations in England and America, can tell of 
similar experiences. 

The author of " These for Those or, What we Get 
for What we Give," thus speaks of the reflex spiritual 
influence of missions upon the churches of New Eng- 
land. " The foreign missionary work had a mighty 
influence half a century ago, in arresting the decay 
of the churches of New England. The drift was 
towards formality and rationalism. Spirituality had 
fearfully declined. That work led to noble Chris- 
tian enterprises in various directions. These gave 
the churches something to do that was practical, 
spiritual and worthy of their calling. This move- 
ment awakened Christian thought and interest. It 
deepened religious experience. So this grand move- 
ment exerted a conservative influence to arrest the 
downward course of things in the church. It was, 
perhaps, the weight that turned the vast scale then 
hanging in suspense, and thus saved the churches of 
our land from a total defection from the faith." 

The unprecedented prosperity of the Baptist 
churches of America, may be said to have commenced 
with their awakening to engage in the missionary 
enterprise, and the drawing out of their sympathies 



94 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

and labors for a perishing world. Some of the 
churches opposed the beneficent work, and what has 
been the effect upon themselves ? The members not 
having their hearts enlarged by the benevolent mis- 
sionary spirit, have done nothing for the cause of mis- 
sions at home. They have grown selfish, narrow and 
peevish. They have cherished errors which sap the 
very spirit of the gospel and the very life of Chris- 
tianity, producing a sickly, unchrist-like piety that 
centres upon themselves, and does not go* forth and seek 
the salvation of others. The result is, such churches 
are dying, and ere long will become extinct. 

Thus experience has proved that those churches 
which engage in sending the gospel to other lands, 
and those who go as foreign missionaries, are accom- 
plishing a double good ; they Christianize and save 
heathen nations, and the reflex influence of the work 
stimulates the piety and saves the churches at home 
from corruption and ruin. And it might be added, 
that in thus saving the churches, the nation is also 
saved from profligacy and destruction. 

Missionaries exert this influence by their noble, 
self-sacrificing, Christ-like example, by their private 
correspondence and influence with pastors and others 
with whom they are personally acquainted ; by their 
public letters and journals communicated through 
their Missionary Boards, and by the powerful stimu- 
lus which in a general way, they are ever imparting 
to the missionary enterprise, which in turn is con- 
stantly reacting so beneficially upon the home 
churches. Thus Carey, Marshman, Ward and other 



MOTIVES TO MISSION AEY WOEK. 95 

missionaries, while laboring to Christianize and save 
India, at the same time accomplished vastly more for 
the cause of Christianity and morality in England, 
than they could have done had they remained at 
home. So also Judson, Wade, Kincaid, and their 
coadjutors, while laying the foundations of Christian 
institutions and a Christian civilization in Burmah, 
accomplished a hundred-fold more for the union and 
development of Baptist churches, and for the general 
progress of a spirit of love and benevolence and a 
healthy Christian piety in the United States, than 
they could have done had they remained and labored 
here. A similar statement might truthfully be made 
respecting the reflex influence of all the missionaries 
throughout the heathen world, upon the churches of 
Christendom, producing instead of a " self-conscious, 
self-tending and world-worshipping" religion, a 
"sell-forgetting, out-reaching and all-embracing" 
piety. 

The reflex spiritual benefits of the foreign mission- 
ary enterprise, most worthy of mention, and of 
careful consideration, may be grouped together as 
follows. It has awakened a deeper interest and 
greater activity in home missions, and in every 
department of labor for the salvation of souls. It 
has kindled a holy enthusiasm in a multitude of 
hearts that otherwise would have remained dor- 
mant, which goes out in loving words and efforts 
seeking the good of others. It has greatly developed 
the benevolence of Christians, and caused their piety 
to assume a more practical vigorous type. It has 
8 



96 THE FOEEIGN MISSIOKAEY. 

tended to awaken and cherish a spirit of prayer more 
in accordance with the true import and spirit of the 
prayer taught us by our Lord as a model, which 
places the hallowing of God's name, the coming of 
his kingdom, and the doing of his will,' throughout 
the earth, before personal objects of request. It has 
also furnished the churches with " innumerable occa- 
sions for praising and glorifying God," It has im- 
parted enlarged views of the scope and power of the 
gospel, of the extent of the field to be cultivated, and 
of the breadth of Christian responsibility. It has 
strikingly illustrated the universal adaptation of the 
gospel to meet the spiritual, religious and moral 
wants of all classes and conditions of men in every 
part of the globe, and has thus proved its divine 
origin and its saving power — that it is indeed what 
it professes to be " The power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth." It has promoted Chris- 
tian union both among the members of the same 
denomination and among those of the various evan- 
gelical denominations. It has " eminently promoted 
the cause of biblical study," by creating a demand 
for a critical knowledge of the original languages in 
which the Bible was written; has "gradually re- 
duced the strongholds of infidelity," by " augmenting 
the evidences of Christianity;" and has "propor- 
tionally increased our confidence in the divinity of 
its character, and in the certainty of its ultimate 
triumph." 

Moreover, there are many reflex temporal benefits 
arising from the foreign missionary work. It has 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 97 

been an aid to the commerce of Christian countries. 
Among the savage tribes of the Pacific islands and 
of Africa, among several tribes of Indians in Ameri- 
ca, and wherever missions have taken root among 
barbarous nations, creating a desire for a higher 
civilization, there has been created a demand for the 
manufactures of Christian lands. For instance, the 
Samoans alone, now purchase annually $250,000 
worth of articles. Last year the Kaffirs, in addition 
to all other kinds of American manufactures for 
which the gospel has made a demand, expended more 
for plows than it costs to sustain the whole Zulu mis- 
sion a year. Thus taking all the mission fields, mil- 
lions of dollars' worth of goods are now annually 
purchased where a few years since there was no 
trade. On the other hand, these nations now being 
enlightened by Christian missions, are annually 
selling millions of dollars' worth of useful articles to 
Christian nations. The result of missions especially 
among the Pacific islands, has also been, to secure 
safety to the lives of multitudes of sea-faring men 
who otherwise would have fallen a prey to savages 
and cannibals, to save also to commercial men many 
valuable cargoes that otherwise would have been 
plundered, and to save them also much insurance 
money. The presence and labors of missionaries 
have produced a friendly feeling among tribes and 
nations toward civilized nations, which has in an 
eminent degree facilitated commercial and also diplo- 
matic intercourse with them. " The missionary 
enterprise/' says Dr. Harris, "by finding out new 



98 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

havens at the antipodes for our fleets, opening new 
channels for our commerce, and everywhere multiply- 
ing the friends of our nation, is eminently conducive 
to our prosperity in temporal and pecuniary interest. 
Such is the imposing magnitude to which this class 
of results has attained, that men who care not for 
any other or higher benefit, acknowledge that this 
alone would amply repay the efforts by which it has 
been gained." 

As an illustration of the incidental reflex temporal 
benefits of missions to the United States, may be 
mentioned the fact that the " Pacific slope " was saved 
to this nation through the agency of missionaries. 
While the Secretary of State was negotiating the ex- 
change of Oregon for fishing grounds, owned by Eng- 
land, on the eastern coast, Dr. Whitman, a mission- 
ary of the American Board, demonstrated the feasibil- 
ity of a wagon-road to Oregon. This fact put an end 
to the negotiations, and led to the speedy formation 
of American settlements on the Columbia River, and 
thus Oregon was retained. This led to a better ac- 
quaintance with the wealth and worth of the vast 
region west of the Rocky Mountains, and to the con- 
quest and subsequent purchase of California with its 
vast storehouses of national wealth. Thus the 
Pacific coast came into the possession of the United 
States, which gave her a leading share in the com- 
merce with eastern Asia, and led to the construction 
of the Pacific Rail road, and to making the United 
States a highway for the commerce of nations. 

Missionaries have also rendered a special service 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 99 

to literature and science. Upon this point we have 
the emphatic testimony of many scientific and learned 
men. For instance, the Hon. L. H. Morgan, author 
of " System of Consanguinity and Affinity of the 
Human Family/' gives the following tribute to 
American missionaries. " There is no class of men 
upon the earth whether considered as scholars, as 
philanthropists, or as gentlemen, who have earned for 
themselves a more distinguished reputation. * * 
Their contributions to history, to ethnology, to phi- 
lology, to geography, and to religious literature, form 
a lasting monument to their fame." Says Prof. Whit- 
ney, of Yale College, " I have a strong realization of 
the value of missionary labor to science. The Orien- 
tal Society, which has been in no small measure the 
medium through which the results of such labors on 
the part of the American missionaries have been 
given to the world, has been much dependent on 
them for its usefulness and importance. * * I have 
heard the manager of one of the great Oriental 
Societies abroad, speak with admiration of the learn- 
ing, good sense and enterprise which their labors 
disclose." In the first five octavo volumes of the 
Am. Oriental Society " more than a thousand closely 
printed pages were contributed by foreign mission- 
aries." Prof. Agassiz says, "Few are aware how 
much we owe the missionaries, both for their intelli- 
gent observation of facts, and their collecting of 
specimens. "We must look to them not a little for 
aid in our effort to advance future science." Karl 
Bitter, the distinguished geographer, acknowledging 

8* 



100 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

his great indebtedness to missionaries, says, " Their 
contributions diffused through essays, quarterlies and 
various other publications, have become a part of the 
world's knowledge." Balbi, the great encyclopaedist, 
says of the labors of missionaries, " Numerous materials 
for the comparison of languages have been collected 
at various times. In this field, along with many 
other useful labors, the ministers of Christianity 
(missionaries,) have occupied the first rank. To the 
zeal of the Moravians, Baptists and other Protestant 
missionaries, the ethnography that classifies men owes 
its acquaintance with so many nations hitherto un- 
known." Prof. Hitchcock of Amherst College says, 
" There is hardly a single one of the seventy mission- 
aries that have gone out from this Institution, that 
has failed to furnish us with some scientific and 
literary matter." The astronomer, Herschel, wrote a 
letter expressing his own thanks, and pledging a vote 
of thanks from the Royal Society, to Rev. D. T. 
Stoddard, a missionary in Persia, for important 
meteorological discoveries. The following remarks 
of Dr. John Harris, uttered about twenty years since, 
have a greatly augmented pertinency now. "In 
philology especialy, the contributions of the mission- 
aries have been distinguished. By correcting pre- 
vailing errors respecting linguistic affinities; by 
bringing to light some of the choicest literary trea- 
sures of antiquity ; by their valuable translation from 
the languages of the East ; by reducing many of the 
unwritten languages of the earth" to writing, and "to 
order and to intelligible classification; and by the 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 101 

patient and laborious preparation of many foreign 
and English dictionaries and grammars, they have 
laid the philologist under permanent obligations." 
Accordingly, not only has commerce, availing itself 
of their literary labors, been indebted to them, and 
embassies, consuls and military men, employed mis- 
sionaries as translators and interpreters, " but learned 
societies call in their aid, and accord their grateful 
thanks, while the leading critics and journalists re- 
cord their praises, and the grave encyclopaedists 
register the activity of their labors, for the informa- 
tion of posterity." He adds, " Christian missions 
have corrected and enlarged our views of the charac- 
ter and condition of man." On the one hand, they 
have corrected many " foolish fancies concerning the 
perfection of savage men, and the happiness of savage 
life ; " and on the other, the results of missionary 
labors have proved that " there is no form of human- 
ity, however lost to civilization, which cannot be re- 
stored to it, or however sunk in the brute, which 
cannot be raised, recovered and taught to hold com- 
munion with the skies." In short, they have proved 
that no nation is so good as not to need Christianity, 
nor so degraded that it cannot be brought under its 
sway, and be elevated by it. And they have taught 
the universal equality and brotherhood of man as 
nothing else could have done. 

Such are some of the reflex benefits resulting from 
the labors of missionaries in foreign lands. And the 
facts seem amply to warrant the assertion, which may 
be assumed as a rule, that should a fair proportion, 



102 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

say one-fourth, or one-third, of all the graduates from 
the theological institutions in our land go forth and 
labor as foreign missionaries, the spiritual and tem- 
poral benefits accruing to their own land would be 
greater than would result from their labors should 
they remain in the home field. If this is true, then 
the objection so often put forth against going to the 
foreign field, viz., " the importance of the home-field" 
falls to the ground, and the very importance of the 
home field affords an additional motive for entering 
the foreign field. Moreover, if a minister of the gos- 
pel would in the highest degree promote the mission- 
ary interest in the churches of his acquaintance, and 
in the institution where he was educated; if he would 
call forth more liberal contributions for missions than 
he could do by any other means; then let him go as 
a foreign missionary. Or would he do all in his 
power to incite others to devote themselves to the 
foreign work, then should he himself set the example. 
The reflex influence of such an example would also, 
no doubt, tend to lead more young men to devote 
themselves to the gospel ministry, and thus aid in 
supplying the great demand for pastors among desti- 
tute churches at home. 

6. Again, the fact that the heathen, without the 
gospel, are perishing — are eternally lost, furnishes a 
motive to engage in the foreign missionary work, 
that should deeply move every Christian heart and 
constrain many to hasten to their rescue. 

There is an idea, more or less prevalent, that the 
heathen are ignorant, harmless unfortunates, to whom 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 103 

it is a question, whether the gospel would be of much 
advantage. It would not require a long stay in a 
heathen land, I apprehend, to dispel all such notions 
from the minds of those Christians who entertain 
them. They would be convinced that PauPs de- 
scription of the character and condition of the hea- 
then as contained in the Epistle to the Romans, is 
true to the letter. How any Christian can under- 
standing^ read the first three chapters of that Epis- 
tle and still doubt that the heathen are great sinners, 
and will surely be lost forever without the gospel, I 
cannot conceive. In chapter i. 18-27, the apostle 
shows, in the clearest manner, that the heathen ignore 
God, worship idols, and become exceedingly ignorant, 
wicked and corrupt, because they reject the light of 
nature, which shows clearly the existence of God, 
even " his eternal power and Godhead ;" they re- 
fuse to thank and glorify God, and choose to ren- 
der homage to idols made with their own hands; 
hence God gives them up to blindness of mind, and 
corruption and wickedness of heart and conduct. In 
chapter i. 26-32, and iii. 9-18, the apostle enume- 
rates the sins of which the heathen are guilty, — a 
picture so faithful, so true to the life, that heathen in 
every land acknowledge its correctness as applied to 
themselves, and there have been instances where the 
heathen have charged the missionaries with writing 
these passages from the living examples present be- 
fore them. It would be impossible to find language 
more exact and appropriate to describe the sins of 
the heathen in China, as 1 have become acquainted 



104 THE FOEEIGN MISSIONAKY. 

with them by a long residence among them, than 
that used by the apostle. And I believe a similar 
statement would be made by every missionary in 
every heathen land. 

And the heathen know they are sinners, and that 
too, against a higher power than man or gods, — a su- 
pernatural, all-controlling Power, called in China, 
and I believe in most heathen lands " Heaven," and 
" Supreme Ruler," or some other term signifying the 
highest authority in heaven and earth. The law of 
God is " written in their hearts,'' as the apostle (Rom. 
ii. 14, 15,) says. "When the Gentiles who have not 
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
these having not the law, are a law unto themselves; 
who show the work of the law written in their hearts; 
their consciences also bearing witness, and their 
thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one 
another." 

The actual state of the heathen mind confirms 
every word of this inspired passage. The readiness 
and correctness, with which the heathen will talk on 
moral subjects, and analyze moral character, and the 
earnestness with which they will condemn immoral 
conduct, show the moral law "written in their 
hearts." Their consciences "accuse" them when 
they do wrong ; and though its voice may be weaker 
in them than in those reared amid Christian and 
Bible influences, still it makes itself heard ; they are 
convinced of their sinfulness, and feel the need of 
some expiation of their guilt. Hence, the numerous 
expedients to which the heathen resort in order to 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WOEK. 105 

avoid the consequences of their sins. They cannot, 
nor do they try to shield themselves with the excuses 
that some in Christian lands frame for them, viz., 
that they do not know right from wrong j that they 
are ignorant, hence innocent. They would feel in- 
sulted to have such statements applied to them. 

Though the heathen can talk morality, they are 
extremely bad practicers. They are given to lying, 
thieving and extortion, — are thoroughly corrupt, 
vicious and wicked. Their hearts are like cages of 
unclean birds. They have no purity, no innocence, 
no fitness for the holy abode and pure spiritual em- 
ployments of heaven. Hence the summing up, the 
grand result of the apostle's argument respecting the 
condition of " both Jews and heathen," applies fully 
to the heathen of every land and every age, — " They 
are all under sin ; as it is written, ' There is none 
righteous, no, not one; there is none that doeth good, 
no, not one/ * * * i That every mouth may be 
stopped, and all the world become guilty before 
God.'" (Rom. iii. 9-12,19.) 

How then are the heathen to be saved without the 
gospel ? They are " all under sin," are " all guilty 
before God." " By the deeds of the law there shall 
no flesh be justified " in God's sight. " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
forget God." Where then is there any hope for the 
heathen in their present state? None, absolutely 
none. They are all in the " broad road that leadeth 
to destruction." Hell is their portion ; and no one 
that is intimately acquainted with the character and 



106 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

conduct of the heathen, but will agree that their 
damnation is just. No, we do not go to heathen 
lands to preach the gospel to poor innocents, over 
whom a fate is impending which they do not deserve. 
But it is because they are deserving, and are exposed 
to everlasting perdition, that we would preach Christ 
to them, the only hope of salvation. God owes no 
debt to the heathen ; but Christians, with all their 
light and advantages, are great " debtors " to them. 

Here then is our responsibility as Christians. All 
the vast multitudes of heathendom are in a sinful, 
lost condition. If there are any exceptions, we do 
not know them, nor where they are to be found. 
Hence, Christ having intrusted to us his gospel, -com- 
mands us, — " Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature ; he that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not 
shall be damned." This very command implies that 
the heathen are lost without the gospel. What a 
motive is here, for the servants of the Lord to go 
and use God's appointed means to save those perish- 
ing millions ! 

7. This motive acquires great additional weight 
from the fact that there are so many open doors. 

A few years since, many nations were closed against 
the gospel. Now, the barriers are removed ; all nations 
are to a greater or less extent, open to the heralds of 
the cross. The tribes of Africa, and the isles of the 
sea, are not only accessible, but are " stretching out 
their hands to God." The 180,000,000 of heathen in 
India, may now be reached with the gospel, and 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WOEK. 107 

multitudes are either believers, or are inquiring the 
way of life. Even the barriers of ancient and exclu- 
sive China, are broken down, and the "door of faith 
opened " to a third of the human race there congre- 
gated. Japan, so bitter against Romanism, is open- 
ing her gates to Protestant Christianity, and has 
already entered upon a career- of rapid progress 
aided by missionaries and others from Christian 
lands. In Madagascar, where not long since, the 
cruel hand of persecution sought the blood of the 
saints, perfect toleration is now enjoyed, and Chris- 
tianity like a flood is overspreading the island. Old 
papal nations so long and obstinately closed against 
the Bible and the preaching of the gospel, are now 
thrown open, and the light of pure Christianity is 
beginning to shine into the minds of the benighted 
dupes of the " man of sin." 

The very progress of the work in the old fields, is 
creating an increasing demand for laborers. 

The providence of God displayed so wonderfully 
in the opening and preparation of the nations for the 
gospel, is an authoritative call to many more to con- 
secrate themselves to the missionary work, to enter 
into those numerous open doors, and occupy the in- 
viting fields. 

8. An additional motive is, that while "The har- 
vest truly is plenteous, the laborers are few." Mace- 
donian cries are heard from every quarter. 

The missionaries of every field, are crying, " Come 
over and help us." The language of our Burman 
missionaries is, " We would unite in urging the Ex- 
9 



108 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

ecutive Committee and Board of the Missionary 
Union, the churches of America, young pastors, and 
the students of oar Theological Seminaries, to give 
their earnest attention to the claims of Burmah, 
Will you not choose out and send to our aid speedily 
twenty men, of the flower of your rising ministry? 7 ' 
From the Teloogoo Mission comes the cry, "O! 
American Baptists, men ! men ! send us men ! Out 
of your thousands, are there not three to be spared 
for your work, and the Master's harvest, among this 
great heathen but awaking nation" ? From Assam 
comes an earnest appeal for a man to labor at the 
"capital of Garrow land." 

Space would fail me to speak particularly of the 
demand for laborers in numerous large cities and 
villages all along the coast of China, unoccupied by 
a single herald of the cross, yet accessible, and in a 
measure prepared for the gospel ; or of the demand 
among the tribes of Africa; or of the pressing call for 
men to help reap the inviting golden harvests of 
Europe ! What response, dear reader, will you make 
to these earnest appeals? 

9. Again, the strong probability of being instru- 
mental of saving more souls by laboring in the for- 
eign field, constitutes a motive that should have great 
weight. As we have before said, the field where 
labor will tell most on the conversion of the whole 
world, should have the preference. The ministry of 
a missionary in a heathen land, is usually brought to 
bear upon many more souls, than would be the case 
were he a pastor at home. He is usually the bishop 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 109 

of a number of churches, and congregations. His 
influence is exerted through many native helpers, 
and over a large region of country and a vast multi- 
tude of souls. It often extends to thousands and 
tens of thousands, when had he remained at home, 
but hundreds would have been reached. Many mis- 
sionaries baptize their thousands of converts, and 
preach the gospel to tens and even hundreds of thou- 
sands of souls. Moreover, the missionary in a hea- 
then land, has the privilege of first setting in motion 
converting and saving influences, that are to go on in 
ever widening circles, through all the future ages. 
What home pastorate vie with such a field in im- 
portance and usefulness? 

In this connection, the great disproportion of la- 
borers between the foreign and home field should 
also have weight. In China for instance, where is 
located about one half of the heathen world, there is 
but one ordained missionary to about 2,500,000 
souls, while in the United States there is one minister 
to about 1000 inhabitants. Moreover, the preacher 
of the gospel in, this country, is aided in his work by 
a band of Sunday-school workers, by a number of 
intelligent members that can pray and exhort and 
take the lead of meetings to edification. He is aided 
too by manjr Christian school teachers, by religious 
newspapers, and Christian books in great numbers, 
by colporteurs and Bible agents, by a public opinion 
in his favor, and by the predominance of Chris- 
tian influence. The foreign missionary, on the other 
hand, is destitute of most of these helps. He must 



110 THE FOKEIGN MISSION AEY. 

urge forward the work almost single-handed, except 
from the native assistants that he himself, with the 
blessing of God, must raise up. Hence his responsi- 
bility and his sphere of usefulness are proportionally 
increased. 

10. I would mention as another motive, the greatly 
increased facilities for reaching the foreign fields. 
The wonderful facilities for intercommunication, 
bringing the most distant heathen nations into close 
proximity to Christian lands, is one of the most sig- 
nificant facts of the age, in its bearing upon the exten- 
sion of Christ's kingdom. Even the Chinese Empire 
is no farther distant from the United States in point 
of time and convenience in reaching, than was the 
Mississippi valley from New England, a few years 
since. The days of long voyages by sail-ship in 
reaching the foreign fields, which were so tedious, and 
often so trying to health, are passing away, and instead 
the foreign missionaries by rail and steam-ships have 
comparatively a pleasure trip, while the expenditure 
of much precious time and strength, is saved for their 
work. Hence also the broad distinctions between the 
home and foreign fields are vanishing away, and the 
whole world is now more clearly seen to be one field ; 
while home and foreign laborers are beginning to be 
regarded in their proper light, as engaged in one and 
the same work. It is evident that this bringing of 
heathen and Christian nations into such close prox- 
imity, and these vastly increased facilities for in- 
tercourse, proportionally increase the obligation of 
Christians to impart to the heathen the gospel, and 



MOTIVES TO MISSIONARY WORK. Ill 

afford a powerful motive for laborers in greatly 
increased numbers to go to heathen lands. 

In conclusion permit me to make a few inquiries 
of those readers who have the ministry in view, and 
others who are considering their duty as to a field of 
labor. 

1. Have you prayerfully, with an earnest desire 
to arrive at a right conclusion, considered your per- 
sonal duty to labor in the foreign field? Or are you 
waiting for a special impression, before you consider 
it ; or do you consider it spasmodically, with but a 
transient impulse, and then from some trivial cause, 
dismiss the subject? 

2. Are you perfectly willing to go to any field 
where duty calls? It is only when you are thus 
willing, that you are prepared to consider aright 
your duty as to a field of labor. 

3. Are you willing to forego the privilege of doing 
a greater work for Christ and the world, than you 
could hope to do if you remained in this land, merely 
because you shrink from the trials involved in going 
as a foreign missionary ? 

4. Do you esteem your own comfort, and the favor 
and applause of men, of more value than the ap- 
proval of your God ? 

5. Dare you, since your Lord and Master " had 
not where to lay his head," seek for yourself a 
downy pillow and an easy life ? 



9* 



112 THE FOKEIGN MISSION AEY. 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE NATURE OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK. 

IT has been a mistake, that has cost no small 
amount of useless expenditure of time, labor and 
money, in supposing that the nature of the work 
in the foreign mission field is essentially different from 
that in the home field. Whereas it has been found 
by experience, what was already clearly taught in the 
New Testament, that the means for extending 
Christ's kingdom throughout the world, are essen- 
tially the same. It was thought by many that a 
civilizing process must precede the establishment of 
Christianity. Hence a vast amount of labor and ex- 
pense was bestowed, by some missions, upon schools, 
in many of which even heathen teachers were em- 
ployed ; and they went so far in their civilizing pro- 
cess in some cases, as to even send out to the various 
heathen lands, mechanics and farmers to teach their 
avocations. Special pains were often taken with the 
youth, under the impression that the aged heathen 
could not become Christians, or at least that their 
conversion was much more difficult and uncertain. 
It was also supposed that foreign missionaries must 
be the pastors of native churches, that converts must be 
kept a long time under instruction before baptism ; and 
that the native churches could not be called upon for 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 113 

a long period, to support their own Christian institu- 
tions, as schools, the ministry, and the building of 
their own places of worship. 

But it has been proved, by a long and painful ex- 
perience, to a generation "slow of heart to be- 
lieve," that Christ did not err when he commanded 
his disciples to " preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture,'' thus establishing the preaching of the gospel 
as the grand means for evangelizing the nations. 
Experience has also proved that the apostle to the 
Gentiles did not err in preaching the gospel directly 
to the heathen, and in receiving ihe converts from 
heathenism at once to baptism, organizing them im- 
mediately into self-supporting churches, with native 
"elders" appointed over them as pastors. 

The preachers of the gospel in all lands have the 
same object in view. They find men essentially in 
the same condition, hence they are all to use the same 
means for their salvation. And the more speedily 
the "broad distinctions formerly made between the 
foreign and home fields, and between foreign and 
home missionaries, the better it will be for the pros- 
perity of the one great cause. 

Still, there are certain incidental features of the 
foreign work, growing out of the circumstances of 
the people, that are peculiar, and worthy of careful 
examination, especially by those who have the foreign 
field in view. 

1. The first peculiar feature, that impresses itself 
with great force upon the mind of the young mission- 
ary on his arrival in the field, is that henceforth a 



114 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

foreign language must be the medium of his preach- 
ing and other labors for the enlightenment and salva- 
tion of the benighted multitudes around him. 

His first business is to acquire the spoken language, 
so as to be able to proclaim in the tongue of the na- 
tives, " the wonderful works of God." In learning 
the colloquial dialect it is not necessary that he should 
•confine himself to the study-room, though he will 
require a teacher by his side constantly. He will 
learn to talk much more quickly and perfectly by 
mingling freely with the natives, conversing with 
them and listening to their tones and modes of ex- 
pression. It is very important that at the commence- 
ment, he should master the pronunciation — get it as 
accurately as possible, for his skill in speaking the 
language correctly will greatly depend upon the 
pronunciation that he acquires at first. If a mission- 
ary acquires a faulty mode of speaking during the 
first year or two of his learning a language, it will 
usually stick to him during his whole missionary life, 
and will greatly hinder his usefulness. Hence the 
first two or three years of his preparatory labor, will 
usually give an irrevocable cast to the success of his 
missionary life-work. The more accurately and 
fluently he can speak the language, other things 
being equal, the greater his influence and success. 

The missionary needs also as thorough a knowledge 
of the written language and literature, as he is able 
to acquire without interfering with his more direct 
missionary labor. The necessity for such acquisition 
will be apparent when it is considered that the mis- 



NATUKE OF THE WOEK. 115 

sionary will have daily occasion to read and explain 
the Scriptures in the native language, and will also 
have occasion to prepare more or less books and 
tracts both religious and scientific. The work of 
translating the Bible into the languages of heathen- 
dom, has been carried forward to a state of great per- 
fection, so that in most foreign fields, the missionary 
will find this great work prepared to his hand, and 
he can turn his whole attention to direct evangelical 
work. Still in some countries the translations of the 
Bible now in use, need to be improved ; and versions 
in many colloquial dialects still need to be prepared. 
2. As soon as the missionary has become somewhat 
proficient in the language, his direct missionary work 
will begin to press upon his attention. And if he 
had correct views of duty when he became a mission- 
ary, he will not be in any doubt as to the specific 
work that is before him. The conviction of duty to 
preach " the glorious gospel of the blessed God " to 
the perishing heathen, was what first fired his youth- 
ful heart to go as a missionary. It was for this that 
he laid himself upon the foreign mission altar. For 
this work he was appointed by his missionary society, 
and visions of standing before heathen audiences, with 
the Bible in his hands, and pointing them to " the 
Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world," 
were constantly before his mind, when bidding adieu 
to friends and native land. He then felt, and still 
feels, that this is to be his daily work ; and now, as 
he is about to engage in it, he hails the prospect with 
intense delight. 



116 THE FOREIGN MISSIONAEY. 

He commences, but he finds it a more difficult 
work than he had anticipated. He finds it very dif- 
ficult to speak an Eastern language correctly, a very 
slight variation in pronunciation conveying a differ- 
ent idea from what he intended, and perhaps render- 
ing the expression simply ridiculous. A friend of 
mine, of Foochow, China, relates the following inci- 
dent of his early attempt to preach in the dialect of 
that place. " I went to talk to the people in a chap- 
el, six months after I arrived, and I asked them 
every few minutes, l Do you understand ?' I noticed 
that instead of responding to the question, they seem- 
ed to understand that rather less than anything else 
I said. Some two days afterwards, I met a young 
man who had been to this country, and talks English 
very well. He said to me, ' Do you know what you 
were saying to the people the other day in the chap- 
el V No, not exactly. What did I say to them ? 
Every little while you stopped and asked, " Do you 
know how to love ?" In my own early attempts to 
preach in the Ningpo dialect, in endeavoring to say 
" Tien/' heaven, I would say " tien," a shop, the mis- 
take consisting in omitting the aspirate. And on 
one occasion, in preaching upon the parable of the vine 
and its branches, instead of designating the disciples, 
" aw-tz'" branches, accenting the tz, I called them, 
" aw'-tz, ,} dumb persons, accenting the aw. The mis- 
sionary also finds it difficult to use suitable terms to 
express Christian ideas. He also finds his heathen 
audiences strange, uncouth, and not being accustomed 
to the quiet of worshipping assemblies, they are often 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 117 

noisy and disorderly. Usually his heathen congre- 
gation, instead of sitting quietly through the service, 
will be constantly changing, some, after listening a 
few minutes, and having obtained a look at the for- 
eigner and the chapel and thus satisfied their curiosi- 
ty > then go away, and others come in, to go through 
with the same process. Thus his congregation 
changes, for the most part, two or three times in the 
course of an hour. Sometimes they come into the 
chapel carrying bundles, with tobacco pipes in their 
mouths, and their hats on their heads. Sometimes 
individuals will appear to give very good attention 
for a time, then will break out with some foolish and 
entirely irrelevant remark or inquiry respecting the 
missionary's dress, or the color of his eyes, or the 
height of his nose ! At other times when he has por- 
trayed the love of Christ, and the plan of salvation 
with all the vividness, pathos and power of which he 
is capable, his efforts to convince and win his hearers 
will only be met with incredulous or derisive smiles, 
or the most stolid indifference. Gradually many re- 
pulsive features in the character and habits of the 
people, come to the observation of the missionary. 
Their vices and crimes, their habits of deception and 
lying, their self-conceit and bigotry, their blindness 
and superstitions, their hypocrisy and treachery, their 
grovelling and filthy habits, these and many other 
vile and disgusting characteristics tend gradually to 
blunt the sympathies and cool the ardor of the mis- 
sionary. He finds it a difficult and unpleasant task 
to perpetually encounter pride, indifference, hypoc- 



118 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

risy, sophisms, absurdities, false reasonings, stolid ig- 
norance, maliciousness, opposition, unjust suspicions, 
and inveterate prejudices. He finds the rugged real- 
ity, divested of the drapery of romance and poetry, 
and of the " enchantment that distance lends " to it, 
to fall far short of his glowing expectations. His 
bright visions give place, perhaps, to disgust, weari- 
ness and despair. He may very likely apply to him- 
self the remark of an excellent missionary of India, 
" There is nothing so difficult for me to resist, as a 
repugnance against coming in contact with the na- 
tives." There is great danger of the missionary's 
being driven by the unpleasant circumstances to 
which we .have referred, from immediate contact with 
the minds of the heathen, and being led to indulge in 
those labors and studies which are more quiet and 
agreeable, or to become disheartened and desponding. 
And if this last state of mind continues long it will 
induce dyspepsia, nervousness, sleeplessness, and com- 
plete prostration of health, and then removal from 
the field or death closes the scene. It is not hard 
work that prematurely kills missionaries, but heart 
work, mental anxiety, debilitating and malarious 
climates, liver complaints, nervousness and chronic 
despondency; these send many of our missionaries 
prematurely from the field or to an early grave. 

In view of the above facts it is evident that it is 
all-important that the missionary on entering his 
field and ever after amid all circumstances, keep dis- 
tinctly and prominently before his mind the grand 
object towards which he should aim. And what is 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 119 

that object ? It is simple. It is Heaven-appointed. 
Alas ! that missionaries even, as well as pastors at 
home, should so often appear to forget it, and spend 
so much time, attention and energy, upon irrelevant 
and unworthy objects. They are " fishers of men." 
Their sole object is to catch men — to win them to 
their God — to save them from the power of sin and 
Satan, from a life of folly and misery, and from eter- 
nal death. That work is surely extensive enough to 
occupy all their time and talents, and manifestly no 
other can vie with it in importance. It demands 
entire singleness of aim, unreserved devotion of 
energy. How exclusively were the labors of Christ 
and his apostles concentrated upon this one object ! 
They are the missionary's example. His cry, should 
ever be, " men, men, give me men !" Whatever 
other objects he may accomplish, however praise- 
worthy, however great, — if he fails in the work of 
evangelizing and saving men, his failure is complete. 
But by what means can this object be most suc- 
cessfully and rapidly accomplished? The mission- 
ary's mind upon this point, should also be so 
thoroughly and clearly settled and fixed, that no array 
of adverse circumstances or discouragements, or of 
allurements to engage in other pursuits, can for a 
moment divert him. Happily, in answering the 
question as to the means to be employed by the mis- 
sionary in accomplishing his great work, we are not 
left to our own wisdom or devices. We have our 
Divine Master's simple and sublime direction upon 
this point. " Go ye, and preach the gospel." This 
10 



120 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

command points out definitively and authoritatively 
the means to be employed for the salvation of men. 
Moreover the apostles set us the example in using 
this means, — "giving themselves continually to 
prayer and the ministry of the word.*' The apos- 
tle to the Gentiles in his work of evangelizing and 
saving the heathen, "determined to know nothing 
among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified f 
and declares that " it pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe." The wisdom 
of God has been vindicated, and the folly of human 
devices for the extension of Christ's kingdom, has 
been shown by the experience of all succeeding ages. 
Failure has ever marked the latter, while the faith- 
ful preaching of Christ crucified has ever been 
attended with the Holy Spirit's presence and bless- 
ing, and resulted in the regeneration, salvation and 
sanctification of souls. 

The preaching of the gospel is the appointed sign 
with which God's power is present to effect the ob- 
ject. Moses had but to obey the divine command 
and stretch out his rod over the sea, and the power 
of God opened a pathway through the deep. He 
had only to smite the rock with his rod, and God's 
power at once sent the cooling waters forth out of the 
flinty rock to refresh man and beast. He was re- 
quired simply to make a serpent of brass, put it on 
a pole, and point the bitten, dying Israelites around 
him to it, and the power of Jehovah came down and 
gave life to all who looked. Joshua and those with 
him had but to obey Jehovah and blow their ram's- 



NATUEE OF THE WOEK. 121 

horns, and the strong walls of Jericho were over- 
thrown and the city delivered into their hands. In 
all these instances, the agency of man was merely to 
give the sign ordained of God, and his power ac- 
complished the work. 

Thus, the missionary is to employ the single, God- 
appointed means for accomplishing the great object 
that he has in view, viz. "preaching " — and by 
" preaching," I understand is meant the oral procla- 
mation of the gospel. No other mode of presenting 
the gospel, can, to any great extent, effect the object. 
Comparatively few of the inhabitants of heathen 
lands can read. The living preacher must personally 
read and expound the Scriptures to them ; must 
preach the gospel to them orally; must bring his 
own warm heart glowing with the love of Christ, 
into close contact with their cold, lifeless hearts. 

He must also so familiarize himself with their reli- 
gious views and mental characteristics, that he can 
adapt the presentation of the truth so as to impart 
clear perceptions of it, remove their errors, and pro- 
dace conviction in their minds. He will be surprised 
to find that the minds of the heathen are so suscepti- 
ble to religious impressions — that the springs which 
awaken religious thought are so easily touched. He 
finds that an unseen hand has gone before him, and 
has already swept over those chords and set them 
vibrating, that in the renewed soul produce immor- 
tal harmonies like those which in the hearts of our 
first parents in Eden, were perfectly attuned to the 
worship and praise of God. In other words, he finds 



122 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

man everywhere, no matter how ignorant and de- 
graded, a religious being. He worships something. 
Those who maintain that the heathen must be edu- 
cated in schools, and become civilized, before they 
can be Christianized, overlook the important fact 
that their religious natures are more susceptible of 
impressions than their intellectual — that the quickest 
and most effectual mode of reaching and awakening 
the intellect of the heathen, is through their religious 
susceptibilities and aspirations. Let, then, the mis- 
sionary to the heathen appeal at once to the religious 
consciousness of his hearers, pressing home to their 
consciences the divine, life-giving truths of Chris- 
tianity, with all zeal and faithfulness. 

Thus laboring, with the blessing of God, life may 
be imparted to their dead souls. Other incidental 
means may contribute to the furtherance of the work 
of preaching; such as the distribution of Bibles, 
books and tracts ; the establishing of schools ; the 
opening of dispensaries and hospitals. These may 
aid, but cannot for a moment be allowed to assume 
the place of, or infringe upon, the preaching of the 
gospel. The command of Christ, and the nature and 
necessities of the work, demand that missionaries 
maintain the campaign in the field against the 
enemy, and not, like cowards, retreat and hide away 
in studies and school-rooms ; and spend their time in 
more congenial, quiet pursuits than the rugged con- 
tact with the heathen in preaching. Their great 
Captain has given them strict orders to preach his 
gospel, and they are not at liberty to neglect this 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 123 

work for any other, however congenial, plausible and 
proper. What would we say of an ambassador to a 
foreign court, who, instead of devoting himself exclu- 
sively to the interests of the government by which 
he is commissioned, should spend his time in literary 
pursuits, or devote himself to trade, or entangle him- 
self in the political affairs of the government to 
which he is sent? And how can a missionary 
answer to Him who commissioned him, if he does 
not devote himself to the explicit business that was 
entrusted to him ? Whenever and wherever he can 
find attentive listeners, he should inculcate upon their 
minds the knowledge of the one living and true God, 
his law, their sinfulness, and the saving doctrines of 
the gospel ; these things should ever be upon his 
lips, even though he may be charged, like Paul, with 
being " beside himself." He is " in the morning to 
sow the seed/' — to sow too, " beside all waters," and 
"in the evening to withhold not his hand." Success 
must crown such labors ; for it is God's appointed 
plan for saving men, and he will bless it. "His 
word shall not return unto him void." " He that 
goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall 
doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bringing his 
sheaves with him." 

As to the specific methods of preaching that the 
missionary should employ, one method may be 
styled wayside preaching. He is to preach the un- 
searchable riches of Christ to the people wherever he 
meets them, whether walking with them by the way, 
or traveling with them in boats, or when they call at 

10* 



124 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

his house ; and he should daily sit, at least a portion 
of the day, in the chapel, or zayat, or pavilion, to 
converse with all that call. Much of the early preach- 
ing in Burmah was of this kind, and much good was 
accomplished ; and in every field, such daily preach- 
ing or familiar talking in chapels or other preaching 
places, by the side of the principal streets or 
thoroughfares, constitutes one of the most effective 
means of reaching the great mass of the heathen 
population. 

Another important mode of conveying the gospel 
to the masses, is itinerating. This was Jesus' mode, 
and Paul's mode, and every true missionary will fol- 
low their example. The plan of itineracy which 
appears best adapted to secure success, and which in 
the example of Paul has divine sanction, is that of 
continuing in the same locality for a longer or shorter 
period, and daily bringing the truth to bear upon the 
minds and consciences of the same people. Many 
missionaries, in various lands, have pursued this plan 
with marked success ; while others who have been 
accustomed to make hasty visits from place to place, 
have seen very little fruit of their labors. The ad- 
vantages of continued labors in a place are, — First, 
that the gospel is repeatedly brought to bear upon 
the same minds, and opportunity is afforded to follow 
up and deepen impressions; Secondly, the way is 
prepared for establishing permanent stations and 
churches. 

3. Again, the establishment of permanent stations, 
where the gospel may be daily preached throughout 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 125 

the year, and Sabbath services, especially for inqui- 
rers and converts, may be regularly maintained, is a 
work of special importance. Permanent stations 
gather together the fruits, and render permanent the 
results of itineracy. Itinerating sows the seed broad- 
cast, some falling by the wayside, some on stony 
ground, some among thorns, and some, it may be, on 
good ground ; but even the last, not being cultivated 
with care, produces but little fruit. Permanent la- 
bors are like sowing seed in a garden, where it is 
carefully watered and cultivated, the fruit brought to 
perfection, and regularly gathered. A faithful na- 
tive preacher established permanently in almost any 
village or city, would hardly fail, with God's bless- 
ing, in not a long time to gather a little band of 
believers around him, who would form the nucleus 
of a church. 

4. In the work of preaching, the foreign mission- 
ary cannot do it all himself; he must call to his aid 
native preachers. After he has done all in his 
power, he must still rely on native helpers chiefly to 
do the preaching. His throat soon gets hoarse, his 
body weary and his health often fails. But a native 
seldom wearies of talking; and he can use many 
effective arguments, can live in many places, and can 
endure many things, 'that a foreigner cannot. The 
missionary finds, that to assist him in his work, to 
establish out-stations, — and to enlarge his operations 
and make advancement, — he must select his Tim- 
othys and Tituses to be colaborers with him. He 
must obey the injunction of Paul, and commit the 



126 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

gospel truths "to faithful men, who shall be able to 
teach others also." He need not wait for them to 
complete a long course of study, before commencing 
to labor ; but as the apostles did, and as many of the 
oldest and most successful missionaries in India and 
other mission- fields, have done and are still doing, he 
may instruct them in the Scriptures, and impart such 
other knowledge as will be useful to them in their 
work, at the same time that they are pursuing their 
work of preaching. They will thus become practical, 
active and effective preachers and expounders of the 
word of God, as well as wise and self-reliant pastors 
of churches. All the available native talent in the 
churches should be called out, and be made to con- 
tribute to the work of making known the gospel. 

Every missionary finds that the work of raising up 
a native ministry, is of the first importance. He 
should begin to seek for preachers among the first 
converts gathered into a church ; then as out- stations 
are established, every new church that is formed be- 
comes the nursery of new laborers, who are to go 
into the "regions beyond" and establish churches in 
other places ; those churches in turn become nurse- 
ries of preachers for still other places. The men will 
thus be raised up at a ratio of increase many fold, to 
carry the work on and still on to new fields. This 
plan has been largely pursued in Burmah, among 
the Karens, and in many other fields to a greater or 
less extent. In all this w T ork the foreign missionary 
must take the lead, set an example of preaching, and 
constantly look after the native helpers. He should 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 127 

strive to develop in them earnestness and activity in 
preaching the gospel, and an intense zeal for the sal- 
vation of their countrymen. 

5. It will be seen that the grand result aimed at 
in all these labors, so far as immediate external results 
are concerned, is the formation of churches. By 
churches, I mean, " local bodies of associated Chris- 
tians." Such churches were formed wherever the 
apostles went forth fulfilling their ministry. Where- 
ever converts were made, churches w T ere at once 
formed. This is the missionary's great work. He 
should constantly aim to plant as many churches as 
possible. These at once become the repositories of 
Christian light and truth in the midst of heathenish 
error and darkness. The churches are to shine as 
lights in the midst of that dense darkness. Each 
church is to serve " as a nucleus, and the only possible 
nucleus, (a school not being one,) — of a permanent 
congregation. A missionary, by means of properly 
located, well organized, well trained churches, may 
extend his influence over a large territory. In such 
a country as India, or China, his direct influence 
may thus reach scores, and even hundreds of thou- 
sands."* Each church constitutes a little missionary 
Society, laboring through all its members, to extend 
the knowledge of Christ, and save the multitudes, 
throughout the region where it is located, and send- 
ing out preachers of the gospel into the regions 
beyond. The missionary cannot form too high an 

* Foreign Missions. 



128 THE FOKEftm MTSSIONAEY. 

estimate of the importance of raising up churches, as 
an indispensable part of his labors, and an essential 
element of success. 

It is hardly necessary to mention that these church- 
es should as far as possible, be composed of truly 
converted, pious persons ; and these of course baptized 
on a profession of their faith. 

The examination of candidates for baptism and 
admission into the churches, constitutes one of the 
most important and difficult duties of the missionary. 
"While the main features of conversion and Christian 
experience remain the same in all lands, still there 
are some incidental characteristics that differ with 
different circumstances and different mental disposi- 
tions. The missionary in most heathen lands will 
find a kind of mental passivity and great moral 
obtuseness. In listening to the narrations of experi- 
ence, by converts from heathenism, he will find 
little of the emotional and demonstrative. It re- 
quires great care, and a thorough perception and ap- 
preciation of the mental and moral characteristics of 
the people among whom he labors, in order for the 
missionary not to make frequent mistakes. He must 
on the one hand, avoid the danger of receiving un- 
worthy persons, and on the other, the equal danger of 
rejecting those who, though they manifest little emo- 
tion, may yet be truly converted. The difficulty is 
increased by the fact that the heathen are universally 
given to deception, and have the art, to a wonderful 
degree, of concealing their feelings and their motives, 
so that a deceiver would not easily be detected. 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 129 

While the missionary must exercise great caution 
in dealing with converts from heathenism, he must 
at the same time exercise much charity. He must 
not judge them by the same standard of Christian 
intelligence and development, that he expects to find 
in converts in a Christian land. He cannot expect 
those who have ever been under the influence of hea- 
thenism, whose " consciences are seared with a hot 
iron," to spring at once to the same completeness 
and symmetry of Christian character, and tenderness 
of conscience, that are reasonably looked for in con- 
verts that were brought up under the full blaze of 
gospel light, and full enjoyment of Christian privi- 
leges. Some young missionaries, not being prepared 
to make sufficient allowance for the great difference 
in the circumstances, condemn the leniency, or loose- 
ness as they look upon it, of old, experienced mis- 
sionaries, who have learned to exercise a Christ-like 
charity towards these weak brethren. In one in- 
stance, where the old missionary had previously died, 
the young missionary on arriving and exploring the 
field, and obtaining a superficial knowledge of the 
state of the native Christians, began his operations 
by excluding one after another all the members of 
the church ! In ignorance or want of a full appreci- 
ation of the peculiar circumstances, I would remark 
by the way, also lies the secret of the failure of most 
deputations, as well as the impossibility of a home 
Board or Committee ' being able to direct in detail 
the labors of foreign misssionaries. 

6. It is not best for missionaries to be the pastors 



130 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

of native churches, at least any longer than is abso- 
lutely necessary. Ordained native pastors should be 
placed over native churches as soon as they can be 
obtained. It has been found by experience, that the 
apostle Paul's plan, which should be regarded as 
having the sanction of divine authority, is the cor- 
rect one. The native pastorate has been found ne- 
cessary to the most healthful and complete develop- 
ment of self-reliant, efficient native churches. A 
native pastor can adapt himself to the circn instances 
of a native church far better than can a foreigner. 
The native pastor dwells in the midst of the members 
of the local church of which he takes the oversight? 
which is usually a small, poor, ignorant body. He 
mingles with them familiarly and sympathetically, 
conducts funerals and marriage ceremonies, visits the 
sick, preaches the gospel in public and in private, and 
administers the ordinance of baptism and the Lord's 
supper. 

The native churches should assume the support of 
their own pastors as soon as they are able. The 
sooner they can be made self-supporting, the better it 
will be for their growth and development into self- 
reliant, strong, effective bodies. 

They should also build their own chapels, as far as 
they are able. To enable them to do this, and to 
better adapt them to their use, the chapels should be 
plain and substantial, but not costly, and should be 
built in a style adapted to the condition and taste of 
the natives. 

They should also be fully instructed in the princi- 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 131 

pies of Christian benevolence ; and in their duty to 
support to the extent of their ability, all their own 
Christian institutions, and aid in carrying the gospel 
to the regions beyond. 

The responsibility of self-government should 
also be devolved upon them at the earliest possible 
day. 

The true ideal of a native church then, is a com- 
pany of sincere believers in a given locality, main- 
taining Christian worship and the Christian ordi- 
nances, supporting their own native pastor, their own 
schools, their own poor and their own missionary 
operations, building and taking care of their own 
place of worship, conducting the discipline and the 
business affairs of the church, in short, a church self- 
reliant, self-supporting, and self-propagating. 

Such churches as this, it has been truthfully said, 
"are the life, strength and glory of missions." And 
not until, the unevangelized world shall be dotted over 
with such churches, so that all men have it within 
their power to learn what they must do to be saved, 
can it in any just sense be said that the great com- 
mission of Christ has been obeyed. 

Concerning this plan of thus organizing native 
churches, which appears so simple and scriptural as 
to require but to be stated to be approved, Dr. R. 
Anderson, has this remark. "Self evident as this idea 
of a mission church may seem on its announcement, 
it is not yet adopted in all Protestant missions, and 
until of late has seemed to gain ground very slowly. 
Its universal adoption, however,cannot be far distant, 
11 



132 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

and will add immensely both to the economy and the 
power of missions." 

7. From this view of the missionary work, it is 
not difficult to see the place that schools must hold in 
missions. Education is " to be held in strict subordi- 
nation to the planting and building up of effective 
working churches." As a natural and invariable re- 
sult of a heathen people becoming Christians, there 
is awakened a strong desire for education. 

For the church-members and their children there 
must be common schools. The common-school 
among converts from heathenism, is a necessity, in 
order to help raise them from their degraded mental 
condition, "and make the village church an effec- 
tive agency." These schools should be maintained 
as far as possible by the Christians, in their own villa- 
ges, in connection with their own churches, that they 
may contribute directly to the development and 
strength of the churches, and make them "a power in 
the land." 

In these schools, in distinction from heathen schools, 
females are of course, to be taught and enjoy the same 
advantages as the males. 

A higher grade of schools, is also necessary for 
those who are to become teachers in the common 
schools, and for those who are to become preachers, 
and the wives of preachers. These for the most part 
will be boarding-schools ; which will take the pupils 
from the common schools and from their homes, to 
some central station. The number who enjoy the 
advantages of these schools, will be limited by the 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 133 

number in the mission desiring such education, and 
the means available for their support while at school. 

Candidates for the ministry also require a special 
training for their work ; either in training-schools, 
where they are instructed chiefly in the Scriptures, 
for a shorter or longer period ; or in theological 
schools, where they may pursue a thorough, pre- 
scribed course of study. 

In regard to English schools in heathen lands, 
they have been found, in the early stages of missions, 
at least, injurious rather than beneficial. The diffi- 
culties attending the teaching of English, have been 
chiefly the following. First, the time, labor and ex- 
pense required, which could have been far more 
advantageously applied to direct missionary labor; 
Second, the rare instances of conversion in such 
schools ; Third, the fact that most, even of the con- 
verts, who learn English, are allured away from 
service for Christ in connection with the mission, to 
engage in the lucrative employments ever open to 
English-speaking natives ; and, Fourth, an English 
education has been found in most cases, to so raise 
the native pastors, in their own estimation, above the 
churches, as to interfere with their usefulness, and 
cause them to ask salaries so much above the means 
of the native churches, as seriously to embarrass all 
efforts to render the churches self-sustaining. 

8. Another important inquiry in this connection, 
relates to the use of the press as a means for promo- 
ting the missionary work. What is the true place 
that Bible and tract distribution holds in the evan- 



134 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

gelization of a people? It is evident it eannot take 
the first place, for as a general rule few heathen can 
read, and of those who can, few would be willing to 
read a foreign book ; and of those who are willing to 
read, few could understand them without the livin<r 
preacher to explaiu them. For the same reasons, 
the distribution of Bibles and books, cannot to any- 
great advantage, precede the living preacher. The 
true place for such labor is, I believe, in connection 
with preaching. In some cases it may be intro- 
ductory to the preacher. But the general rule, no 
doubt, should be for preaching and Bible and tract 
distribution to go together. The preacher will be 
able to prepare the minds of such as can read, to 
read with interest, and understand what is read. 

Experience has taught also, that it is better to sell 
the Scriptures and books, than to give them gratui- 
tously. The people will be more likely to preserve 
and read what costs them something. 

The importance of the native Christians and their 
children being able to read, and of being supplied 
with Bibles and Christian literature, cannot be too 
highly estimated. 

Bible-readers or colporteurs and Bible- women 
should also be employed. Their work should be 
not only to circulate Bibles and books, but also to 
accompany distribution with reading, explanation 
and exhortation. Such laborers, male and female, 
can do a great and glorious work in heathen lands, 
as they have done in Europe and America. 

In general, the same remark may be made respect- 



NATURE OF THE WORK. 135 

ing the use of the press, as was made respecting 
schools, viz., that it is to be held in strict subservience 
to the establishment and building up of strong effi- 
cient churches. 

Thus, I have endeavored to unfold what appears 
to me to be the correct, Scriptural method of conduct- 
ing missions in a heathen land. 

9. But the view would not be complete, were I to 
omit to notice the power that must be present in 
order to render all these labors and appliances effec- 
tive. The missionary must follow the example of 
the apostles and "give himself to prayer," as well as 
to " the ministry of the word." He must abide con- 
tinually in Christ, if he would be an effective worker 
for God. He must be imbued with the promised 
" power from on high," or he cannot be a strong and 
successful missionary of the cross. All the appli- 
ances, that have been enumerated, will be powerless, 
and utterly incapable of raising up spiritual churches, 
composed of truly regenerated, living Christians, un- 
less the Holy Spirit is present in power to make them 
effective. But using the means that God has 
appointed, and constantly looking to him in prayer, 
the missionary's labors will certainly be crowned 
with abundant success. 

11* 



136 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE TRIALS AND COMFORTS OF A FOREIGN 
MISSIONARY LIFE. 

IT should not be supposed that foreign missiona- 
ries are sufferers beyond all other men. There 
are several classes of persons that suffer as much 
and often more than missionaries in a heathen land. 
The seamen on board merchant ships, the soldiers in 
times of war, gold seekers and diggers in a new and 
wild region of country, the surveyors on our frontier, 
the explorers of new continents and countries, many 
traders and merchants in eastern climes, the home 
missionaries in our new states and territories, and 
multitudes of the poor in cities, all these classes as a 
general rule, suffer as much as foreign missionaries. 
Physically, several of the above classes suffer more 
than do missionaries. 

1. Among the real trials of a foreign missionary 
the distant separation from relatives and friends, from 
his native land, and from home influences and privi- 
leges, is the one that most readily suggests itself. 
And while he recognizes the principle, that if he does 
not love Christ more than " his father, and mother, 
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 
than his own life also," he " cannot be his disciple," 
still it is not without a pang that the missionary bids 
adieu to dear relatives and friends, perhaps never to 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 137 

see them more, to go and take up a life-residence on 
the other side of the globe. Nor is it a small trial 
for one to leave his native land with its liberty, its 
enlightened civilization, its many physical comforts, 
and intellectual and social advantages, and above all 
its priceless Christian privileges. All these to be ex- 
changed for a life in a strange land, where climate, 
productions, scenery, all are different ; where the peo- 
ple too, with whom he is obliged to mingle continu- 
ally, are strange and uncouth in personal appearance 
and customs, speak a barbarous language, and are 
ignorant, superstitious and degraded. 

Often, too, while thus cut off from the privileges of 
his native land, the missionary painfully feels that he 
is not remembered as he should be in the sympathy, 
prayers and support of his Christian brethren at home. 

Most missionaries also have the severe trial of send- 
ing away their dear children from their own homes 
and care, to be educated amid the bracing climate and 
superior privileges of their native land. 

Another trial that should be mentioned in this 
connection, is that missionaries are sometimes unhap- 
py in their associates. They are not congenial, per- 
haps, in their tastes, habits and disposition; or 
coming from different places, may have different 
views respecting church affairs, and the mode of con- 
ducting missions; or they come into collision in their 
work. This last, usually occurs where two or more 
laborers are appointed to the same field, to do the 
same kind of work, without a suitable division of la- 
bor ; for according to the old adage, " If two ride the 



138 THE FOKEIGN MISSION AKY. 

same horse, one must ride behind," and many men are 
too independent to do this. And if Paul and Barna- 
bas could have so " sharp a contention" as to sepa- 
rate "asunder one from the other/' it should not be 
considered a thing strange and incredible if good men 
and missionaries in modern days, should sometimes 
have contentions respecting those matters to which I 
have referred. And these maybe aggravated by ill— 
health; or a morbid state of mind, produced by ner- 
vous debility, dyspepsia, indigestion, and want of 
sleep. To avoid collisions, every missionary should 
have his own field and department of labor, where he 
will be perfectly free and independent. No young 
missionary should be sent to labor in the same field 
and in the same department of labor with an old 
missionary; for all the converts will be sure to go to 
the old missionary, their " spiritual father," for ad- 
vice and direction in all matters ; the young laborer 
will find himself to be a kind of supernumerary ap- 
pendage, and dissatisfaction and heart-burnings will 
be sure to arise. 

2. In the second place, the foreign missionary 
must necessarily suffer many physical discomforts. 
Oceans and seas must be crossed to reach his field. 
And a sea-voyage with its usual concomitants of 
storms and sea-sickness, under the most favorable 
circumstances, is a trying ordeal for most persons. 

House-keeping in a heathen land, also has many 
discomforts and inconveniences. These frequently 
arise from poor houses or from their being inad- 
equately furnished, also from the difficulty often of 



TEIALS AND COMFORTS. 139 

procuring suitable and palatable food. Discomforts 
also arising from being dependent to a great extent, 
upon lying, thieving natives to procure and cook the 
food, and to perform the more laborious parts of 
house-keeping, which in the hot, debilitating climates 
of the East, foreign ladies are not able to perform. 
Much inconvenience is also, experienced from the 
great difficulty of protecting goods from destruction 
by rust and insects. 

The pestiferous tribes of insects are a great source 
of annoyance in most heathen lands. In some coun- 
tries where missionaries are laboring, the white ants 
are frequently so destructive as in a short time to 
injure houses so as to render them unsafe to dwell in; 
and in order to protect food, clothing, books, and 
furniture, from destruction, they must be supported 
upon legs resting in cups of oil through which the 
ants cannot pass. There are myriads of other annoy- 
ing insects, as musquitoes, fleas, and other noxious 
insects and parasitic vermin, which appear to be a 
universal accompaniment or badge of heathenism. 

The mode of traveling in making missionary 
tours, is also usually unpleasant. In most heathen 
lands there are no carriage-roads, much less rail- 
roads. Most of the journeying must be upon the backs 
of horses and mules, or of elephants and camels, or 
in boats. The most common mode is the last, and 
the boats are often small, smoky, filthy, and infested 
with vermin. Itinerating also is sometimes rendered 
dangerous from venomous reptiles and ferocious wild 
animals, as well as from robbers and pirates. 



140 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

The climate, though sometimes beautiful and balmy 
as that of Eden, yet often is exceedingly trying. 
The rainy season drenches everything with moisture, 
rendering the atmosphere like a steam-bath, and 
causing mould and rust to tarnish or destroy cutlery, 
clothing, books, and other valuables. The hot sea- 
son in tropical regions, continuing day and night 
without intermission, is exceedingly exhausting and 
debilitating, while the cold seasons are damp and 
chilly. In most of these countries, fevers, liver and 
bowel complaints, rheumatic and nervous affections, 
also pestilential diseases in the form of cholera and 
small-pox, are very common. 

One of the great trials of missionaries, is frequent 
ill health. Often the work seems so important, and 
no one being present or near to take the responsi- 
bility and burden of it, the missionary feels obliged 
to toil on with poor and failing health, and sometimes 
he has not the appliances at hand best calculated to 
alleviate the disease. Thus is often caused perma- 
nent loss of health, or premature death. It is the 
duty of every missionary to take special care of his 
health. There is no virtue in committing suicide 
even in a good cause. He should make his heathen 
home as comfortable as he can under the circum- 
stances. And though he ought to itinerate, and be 
about work whenever and wherever duty calls, yet he 
should take special care not to unnecessarily expose 
or exhaust himself. He should be specially careful 
not to expose himself to the sun or rain which are 
very deleterious in the East to foreigners, and he 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 141 

should not take long and exhaustive walks when he 
can ride. Many instances might be adduced to show 
that missionaries have often brought upon themselves 
unnecessarily, by their own indiscretion, sickness 
that resulted in driving them from the field or short- 
ening their lives. 

3. Another trial of a missionary is, that he must 
live in the midst of a heathen people and heathen 
and idolatrous influences. He must witness continu- 
ally the disgusting symbols and practices of idolatry, 
their worship of idols, their offerings continually 
made to gods and evil-spirits, and their idolatrous 
processions and heathenish festivals. He must live 
in the midst of heathens, must perpetually come 
in contact with their ignorant, superstitious, degraded 
and besotted minds, yet full of bigotry and self- 
conceit. He must dwell in a moral Golgotha, and 
breathe the stifling atmosphere of the moral death 
and corruption of heathenism. The moral degra- 
dation of the heathen weighs continually and oppres- 
sively upon his spirits. He is a constant witness 
of their universal practice of thieving and lying, 
of their extortion and treachery, their lascivious con- 
versation and deeds, and countless other vices. In 
his dealings with them, he must encounter and suffer 
from their habits of deceiving, cheating and stealing, 
and be put to his wit's end to know whom to believe 
or whom to trust. His patience and his temper are 
tried to the utmost. 

In his most loving and faithful missionary labors 
for their enlightenment and salvation, he constantly 



142 THE FOKEIGN MISSIONAKY. 

meets the most stolid indifference or the most obsti- 
nate opposition. Thus his faith and his perseverance 
are put to a severe test. 

The peculiar trials arising from intercourse with 
natives, are graphically described by a missionary 
thus. " In your dealing with men, you will find them 
swayed by a selfishness so gross, as to overstep the 
bounds of honesty and honor, within which it is 
commonly restrained among us. In its workings, 
man overreaches man to the best of his ability, and 
each, in managing his individual interests, acquires, 
in his little sphere, a diplomatic adroitness at in- 
trigue, double-dealing, and deceit, not very unlike 
his, who has grown grey in the cabinet, managing 
the balance of power between neighboring nations. 
Your servant will hire shop-keepers and market-men 
to abet him in overcharging in his purchases, by 
dividing with them his dishonest gains; and then 
seek by cringing and falsehood to put your suspicion 
to rest. Your entertainer in traveling will serve you 
up more flattering speeches than nutritious dishes; 
and then charge you in proportion to the former, 
rather than the latter. So crookedly in fact, are 
their minds formed, that a falsehood will often come 
out as the readiest answer to a simple inquiry, when 
not the shadow of a motive appears for concealing 
the truth. Their own method of settling their mat- 
ters is, to meet cheating with cheating and lie with 
lie; and then, by furious altercation and wrangling, 
work themselves to a mutual adjustment. Your 
way will be, to determine within yourself what is 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 143 

right, and then do it, regardless alike of their argu- 
ments, their smiles, and their threats. Bat who can 
steer this straight course through such vortices of 
falsehood and passion, and not have his temper 
warped, and be provoked to lift up his voice and give 
utterance to his indignation? The occasions will 
daily occur, and if you yield to them, a touchy, 
impatient, dictatorial spirit, the reverse of evangelical 
meekness, will be the inevitable consequence. Such 
experience long continued will tend to render you 
suspicious of all men ; and you will look upon all 
the w T orld through the distorting medium of a sour 
misanthropy. I may seem to exaggerate the effects 
of little causes. But their very littleness, by ena- 
bling them to touch you in the bosom of your fami- 
lies, and in your every-day business, makes them 
the more irritating. And you must not be disap- 
pointed to find this far from being the least of your 
trials." 

4. The obstacles which the missionary meets in 
prosecuting his evangelistic work, constitute another 
source of great trial and sorrow. 

The first obstacle that he meets on entering the 
field, is a difficult language. Months and years of 
hard study and constant practice are required to con- 
quer this hindrance to direct contact with the minds 
of the natives, and effective labor for their conver- 
sion. 

Another difficulty that the language presents, con- 
sists in the want of suitable terms to express Chris- 
tian ideas. Circumlocution and explanation are con- 
12 



144 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

stantly required in order to convey anything like a 
correct idea of what is meant by many of the terms 
employed in preaching the gospel. This is a difficulty 
that taxes the patience and skill of the missionary 
exceedingly, and even with the utmost care he often 
fails to convey a correct impression. In China, (to 
which I refer because personally acquainted with that 
field,) sometimes when the preacher has done his best 
to convey to the minds of his hearers the scriptural idea 
of God, some will go away saying, "O, he exhorts 
men to worship heaven and earth," a phrase descrip- 
tive of what they have been accustomed to regard as 
the highest power in existence; or they will say, 
" He preaches a foreign god." Often when the char- 
acter and mission of Christ is set forth, the conclusion 
of the listener is, that Jesus is a deified sage of the 
West. The best terms that can be selected to repre- 
sent heaven and hell, unless fully explained, convey 
the idea of an earthly paradise, and a material hell 
where bodily pain is endured. In other heathen 
lands no doubt, the same difficulties occur to a great- 
er or less extent. 

And when the missionary has laboriously acquired 
the language, ascertained the best terms to express 
Christian doctrines, and prepared books, or a transla- 
tion of the Scriptures, he now meets with another 
formidable obstacle to the accomplishment of the de- 
sired object; the great majority of the people cannot 
read. Moreover, among the comparatively small num- 
ber who can read, he finds but few who are disposed 
to read a Christian book ; and among these few he 



TEIALS AND COMFORTS. 145 

finds but a very small portion who can understand 
the doctrines inculcated. 

Another obstacle that missionaries everywhere 
meet, is the prejudice of the people, both against 
foreigners and a foreign religion. This prejudice in 
many lands, is greatly intensified by the dissolute, 
and oppressive conduct of most foreigners who visit 
them. When the missionary comes with the Bible 
and the gospel, and exhorts them to adopt these as 
their rule of faith and practice, and as affording the 
only hope of salvation, the language of their hearts 
is, " Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 

Closely allied to their prejudice, is their pride and 
self-conceit, which constitute another formidable ob- 
stacle to the reception of the gospel, and add to the 
difficulties and trials of the missionary. 

The atheistic philosophy, so prevalent in the hea- 
then world, offers another great hindrance to the diffu- 
sion of the gospel. This philosophy is usually held 
by the more studious and thoughtful, and hence the 
more influential class in heathen lands. These athe- 
ists usually hold to the eternity of the universe ; some 
modify the theory by holding that the world was 
formed by the " fortuitous concurrence of atoms ;" 
or like the Chinese atheistic philosophers, who attri- 
bute the existence and order of the universe to a self- 
existing, perpetually operating essence, guided by a 
self-existing, eternal principle of right. The essence 
and principle are indissolubly united, but are not 
spiritual in their nature, and are devoid of intelli- 
gence. The existence of spiritual beings, whether 



146 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

men, gods, or evil spirits, is attributed to this same 
unintelligent cause. Growth and decay, life and 
death, in short all the changes and vicissitudes that 
are transpiring in the universe, are produced by the 
action of the " essence." Order and virtue exist in 
consequence of the controlling presence of the "prin- 
ciple," while all that is disorderly and evil, whether 
in nature or in morals, consists in departures, often 
caused by the " essence," from this " principle of 
right." This philosophy accommodates itself and 
gives license to the deepest depravity and wickedness ; 
gives scope to any amount of superstition ; lays a 
foundation for the whole system of geomancy, 
prognostication and fortune-telling ; dethrones the one 
self-existing, intelligent, eternal Author and Sover- 
eign of the universe ; subjects man to a blind fate, and 
tends to uproot all sense of moral accountability. 
The withering, benumbing, deadening influence 
which such a system exerts upon the religious in- 
stincts and moral sensibilities, no one can realize 
until brought into contact with the consciences thus 
seared, and the hearts thus rendered hard as adamant. 
The idolatrous systems of religion, and countless 
superstitions, that completely fill and preoccupy the 
minds of the heathen, constitute a great impediment 
to the reception of the gospel. They are greatly 
attached to their idols ; their temples built in honor 
of the gods and devoted to their worship, are numer- 
ous and costly, and are situated in the most pic- 
turesque and beautiful places to be found ; their reli- 
gious rites and superstitious observances have become 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 147 

long established and universal customs, which are 
interwoven with the whole frame-work of society. 
Their hoary systems of idolatry, with their showy 
ritual, their gorgeous processions, and numerous 
popular festivals, — all the offspring of depraved 
human nature aided by the machinations of Satan, 
and peculiarly adapted to please blind and supersti- 
tious heathen minds, these cannot be dislodged from 
their strong hold in the depraved hearts of the mul- 
titudes, without offering a long, dogged opposition. 

Superstition also, is rife among all classes of 
heathen, from the lowest to the highest ; it enters 
largely into every form of religious worship; it is 
connected with all the good and ill luck of life ; with 
all sudden accidents and calamities ; with pain, sick- 
ness and death ; and with all the impressive phe- 
nomena of nature. The heathen are continually 
harassed by dreams and omens, and often vexed and 
tormented, as they suppose, by demons. Their ex- 
cited imaginations lead them to resort to ten thou- 
sand superstitious expedients to avert the dreaded 
evils, and quiet their minds. To remove from the 
minds of the people this mass of superstition, and in 
its stead to. implant sober, rational and Christian 
views of life and duty, is a task that taxes the utmost 
faith and zeal of the missionary, and that can only 
be accomplished by the powerful aid of the Holy 
Spirit. 

Still the greatest obstacle to the evangelization of 
a heathen people, and that which constitutes the 
greatest trial of a missionary, is their depravity and 

12* 



148 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

wickedness. The description given of the moral 
condition of the heathen, in the first and third chap- 
ters of the epistle to the Romans, is true to the letter 
as applied to the heathen of every land. "Filled, 
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, 
covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, de- 
bate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters 
of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil 
things, disobedient to parents, without understand- 
ing, covenant breakers, without natural affection, 
implacable, unmerciful. * * * Their throat is 
an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used 
deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose 
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet 
are swift to shed blood ; destruction and misery are 
in their ways ; and the way of peace have they not 
known ; there is no fear of God before their eyes." 
In all heathen lands, lying and stealing, deception 
and fraud, slandering and cursing, intrigues and 
broils, bribery and extortion, are universal ; and for- 
nication, adultery and sodomy are extremely com- 
mon. 

When Christianity has already ove rcome prej udice 
against foreigners and their religion; when it has 
broken the spell of superstition, and hurled idolatry 
from its throne in the heart; when it has even con- 
vinced the atheist and polytheist that there is " one 
God over all," and "one Mediator between God and 
man," its difficult work is but fairly begun. It must 
then encounter not only natures depraved, besotted, 
" dead in trespasses and sins," but also a tangled and 



TEIALS AND COMFORTS. 149 

luxurious growth of deep-rooted vices. It must deal 
with hearts unfeeling and a hard as a piece of nether 
millstone," with " consciences seared with a hot iron," 
and with passions that hitherto have had little re- 
straint. In this work the missionary finds his great- 
est anxiety and trouble. 

5. Nor does his trouble end with the conversion of 
the heathen ; he also has much anxiety and many 
trials with converts. They are but " babes in Christ," 
and require constant care and attention, as well as to 
be constantly "fed with the sincere milk of the 
word." After the most vigilant care and faithful 
instruction, such is the power of old habits and asso- 
ciations, and such their ignorance and weakness, that 
they often fall into temptation and sin, and occasion 
the missionary much anxiety and sorrow. The sins 
into which converts are most liable to fall, are those 
to which in their heathen state they were most 
addicted, such as lying, pilfering, quarreling, licen- 
tiousness, and superstitious views and practices. 
They often fail also in keeping the Sabbath, in spiri- 
tual-mindedness, and in Christian love and zeal. A 
missionary sometimes also has severe trials with 
(t false brethren." And in general he can sympathize 
with the apostle, in carrying daily like a crushing 
weight upon his heart, "the care of all the churches." 

6. Again, in the eye of the world, to the natural 
sentiments of a refined taste, there is a meanness, a 
degradation in the work of the foreign missionary. 
This feature constitutes a trial too important to be 
omitted from the list. A missionary to the heathen, 



150 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

is called to mingle with a degraded, mean, ignorant, 
vicious, filthy race. With people whose intellects 
are dwarfed, narrow, and sluggish ; whose minds are 
filled with suspicions, bigotry, prejudices, absurd 
superstitions, and often intense hatred. The mission- 
ary in the prosecution of his beneficent work, is fre- 
quently obliged to sit, and perhaps sleep, in misera- 
ble huts with mud floors, and reeking with smoke 
from the kitchen, tobacco smoke, filth, stench, and 
infested with noxious insects. He labors for the 
good of those who cannot appreciate his benevolent 
motives, who manifest little or no gratitude for his 
kindnesses, but on the other hand, often abuse his 
charities and labors for their good ; cheat, steal, and 
rob him of his substance, and most trying of all, turn 
a deaf ear to his message of mercy. If you would 
obtain a vivid idea of the " meanness " of foreign 
missionary labor, then go with the city missionary as 
he threads narrow and filthy alleys, visits squalid 
abodes, sits down by the side of the lowest and most 
ignorant and vicious classes to be found in our cities, 
and labors to impart the light and comfort of the 
gospel to their benighted, wicked, wretched souls. 
This, of course, is the dark side of missionary work. 
There is a bright side. 

7. Finally, the foreign missionary has the trial of 
passing through many " perils." Most missionaries 
have trials similar to those of the apostle Paul. " In 
journey ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of 
robbers, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the 
city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 



TRIALS AND COMFOETS. 151 

in perils among false brethren. In weariness and 
painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, 
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness/' Some- 
times they too, are "beaten/' or "stoned," or "suffer 
shipwreck;" some are loaded with fetters, and 
thrown into " prisons;" and others are called to suffer 
a violent " death.' ' 

COMFORTS. 

Having considered the trials of foreign missiona- 
ries, we will now reverse the picture, and contem- 
plate their comforts. 

1. In leaving his friends and native land with its 
many privileges, the missionary has the great satisfac- 
tion of feeling that he does it for Jesus' sake. " The 
love of Christ constrains" him. Having this as a mo- 
tive, the performance of duty, though it may seem to 
involve great self-denial, is a pleasure rather than a 
hardship. Certainly, in going to take up his resi- 
dence in a distant and strange land, among a half- 
civilized or barbarous people, the missionary with 
such a motive, and having the high and holy pur- 
pose of devoting himself to the good of his fellow- 
men, has far more satisfaction than the merchant in 
the selfish pursuit of wealth, or the official seeking 
political honors and preferment. 

And though far separated from relatives and 
friends, he is cheered by the assurance that some of 
his Christian friends, and perhaps godly parents and 
other relatives, ever remember him, and follow him 
with their sympathy and prayers. 



152 THE FOEEIGN MISSIONAEY. 

Nor is he usually deprived of all civilized society. 
English and American settlements, often also largely 
made up of other nationalities, are formed at all the 
principal ports of all heathen countries, and the cen- 
tral mission-stations are usually at these ports. The 
residences at these settlements are usually fine large 
buildings of granite or brick, in European style of 
architecture, and richly furnished. In these com- 
munities home style and etiquette are kept up, with 
many a dash of Eastern and tropical luxuries and 
voluptuousness superadded. 

Moreover, at these ports and at many other central 
points, missionaries of various missionary Societies 
are congregated together in sufficient numbers to 
form a pleasant social and Christian community. 
They often visit each other, consult together in rela- 
tion to their work, and have their social gatherings, 
their " tea-parties." And it is often the case that the 
members of the same Society are so associated to- 
gether as to be a very great aid and comfort to each 
other. It is a noticeable fact, that generally mission- 
aries are a most cheerful and happy class of people. 

2. They have many physical comforts to offset 
their discomforts. The comforts of missionaries are 
every year increasing. The facilities for traveling 
render the journey to the most distant fields, a plea- 
sure-trip compared with what it was a few years since. 
A quick passage on palace sleeping-cars and magnifi- 
cent steamships, has for the most part, taken the 
place of tedious and uncomfortable voyages on sailing 
vessels. 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 153 

The salaries of missionaries are sufficient, with 
economy, to render them comfortable, and as a gene- 
ral rule, quite free from care respecting temporal mat- 
ters. In this respect they are probably in more easy 
circumstances than the majority of pastors at home. 

At the foreign settlements in heathen lands, stores 
are opened where all kinds of home articles may be 
purchased, which often add much to the comfort of 
missionaries. 

It is a convenience as well as a necessity in those 
warm and unhealthy climates, and since native labor 
is very cheap it is feasible, for missionaries to employ 
servants to perform all the household drudgery. 

Many, from the nature of their inquiries, appear 
to suppose it to be the greatest trial of missionaries 
that they cannot always get the best kind of food — 
cannot procure as good " bread and butter " as they 
would like. They can, however, with very rare ex- 
ceptions, procure a plenty of good wholesome food, 
hence, trouble on this score is one of their smallest 
trials. Moreover, home articles of food, as fruits, 
jams, butter, cheese, flour, hams, potted meats, &c, 
are being imported to those foreign lands, hence they 
may be easily obtained by missionaries. 

Missionaries in some respects, are comfortably situ- 
ated as compared with most home pastors. They 
are in a great measure free from many of the petty 
annoyances of a home pastorate. Such for instance, 
as the restraints of the affected and hollow customs 
of society, the tongues of gossips and fault-finders, 
the impertinent advice and unjust criticism of some 



154 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

who like to have the preeminence in the church, the 
dictations of old fogy deacons, and the annoyance 
from those who have "itching ears" for something 
new, and who clamor for sensational popular 
preachers. 

3. The trial of living in unpleasant and unhealthy 
climates, in the midst of degraded and vicious peo- 
ple, and surrounded with heathenish and idolatrous 
influences and practices, is rendered light by the con- 
sciousness of being engaged in a God-appointed work, 
by the luxury of doing good, and the happiness of 
imparting to these benighted people truths that will 
enlighten, elevate, transform, purify and save their 
immortal souls. The consciousness of doing; what 
we can to glorify God and honor our Saviour by 
obeying his last great command, and of living for 
other worlds than this, afford a comfort that compen- 
sates for all discomforts. Indeed when the mission- 
ary's mind and heart and hands are absorbed in his 
blessed work, he becomes oblivious to what may 
appear to a casual observer as discomforts. 

4. Again, while as we have remarked at length, 
there are many obstacles to the progress of the gos- 
pel in a heathen land, which are among the mission- 
ary's greatest trials, there are on the other hand, 
many encouraging facilities, which go far to off-set 
the obstacles. 

Languages have been so throughly mastered by 
preceding missionaries, that they have been enabled, 
(thanks to their indomitable industry,) to prepare 
many helps to aid succeeding missionaries in acquir- 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 155 

ing the languages of heathendom, such as grammars, 
phrase-books, chrestomathies, elementary books, vo- 
cabularies, and dictionaries. The Bible has already 
been translated, and many standard books and tracts 
have been prepared and printed ; thus, much time 
and labor in this direction are saved to those who 
now enter the field, which may be more directly and 
effectually employed in evangelistic labors. 

Moreover, a vast preparatory and most difficult 
work has been already accomplished, which greatly 
facilitates the success of succeeding missionaries. 
Prejudices, pride, self-conceit, and belief in their athe- 
istic philosophy, in their idolatrous systems of reli- 
gion, and in their effete superstitions, have been 
gradually wearing away; while confidence in the mis- 
sionaries and in the doctrines which they teach, has 
been constantly gaining ground throughout a large 
portion of the heathen world. Converts have been 
multiplied, churches formed, native preachers raised 
up, in short, the foundations of missions have been 
deeply and widely laid, so that most missionaries 
who now engage in the work have only to rear up 
the structure, — those entering the field have but to 
reap the harvests that were sown, and in many cases, 
long cultivated by other hands. 

In the labor of itinerating also, in the absence of 
railroads and carriage-roads and carriages, we should 
not omit to notice the fact that throughout eastern 
and southern Asia, where the vast majority of heathen 
dwell, the facilities for traveling by water are no 
doubt greater than can be found in any other part of 
13 



156 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

the world. Countless water-courses and artificial 
canals, all swarming with boats, are spread like a 
net-work over all the countries of that region. 

The eminently social habits of the people of all 
those lands, the clanship of families, and the custom 
of living congregated together in villages and cities, 
will also greatly facilitate the diffusion of the gospel, 
since, when one person receives the truth, he soon 
communicates it to many others. 

Again, the religious instincts of all heathen, are on 
the side of Christianity, which greatly facilitates its 
reception. They feel themselves in some way ame- 
nable to a Power higher than men or gods ; something 
within them points to a future existence and future 
retributions, and they feel the need of a sure directory 
in all these matters, and some means by which their 
sense of guilt may be removed, and they may attain 
a happy state in the future world. The adaptation of 
Christianity to meet all these spiritual wants and 
religious aspirations of the soul, gives it important 
vantage ground, and does not fail powerfully to 
commend it to the minds of even the heathen. 

And this natural adaptation of Christianity to the 
religious and moral wants of the heathen, is rendered 
all the more effective, from the fact that all the old 
religions have become, in the course of ages, a mass 
of most puerile and disgusting superstitions and 
absurdities ; they are so utterly effete and unsatisfying, 
that the people are yearning for something better 
adapted to the wants of their souls. 

Moreover, the gospel is equally applicable to meet 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 157 

and overcome all false religions. "Generically con- 
sidered, there can be but two religions ; the one look- 
ing for salvation by grace, the other by works. 
The principle of evil in all unbelieving men, is the 
same. The refuges of lies in Popery, in Judaism, 
in Mohammedanism, in Brahminism, Hindooism, 
Buddhism, Tauism, Confucianism, and every form of 
paganism, are wonderfully alike. There is one dis- 
ease, and one remedy. Before the. gospel, the 
unbelieving world stands an undistinguished mass of 
rebellious sinners ; unwilling to be saved except by 
their own works, unwilling that God should reign 
over them, and averse to all real holiness of heart 
and life. There is power in the doctrine of the cross, 
through grace, to overcome this. The doctrine of 
the cross is the grand instrument of conquest. Not 
one of the great superstitions of the world could hold 
a governing place in the human soul, after the convic- 
tion has once been thoroughly produced, that there is 
salvation only in Christ., Be it what it may, the man, 
thus convinced, would flee from it, as he would from a 
falling building in the rockings of an earthquake." * 
But as the greatest obstacle to the propagation of 
Christianity is found in the depravity and wicked- 
ness of the heart and life ; so on the other hand, the 
greatest encouragement is found in the promises of 
God. "Lo, I am with you," constitutes a surer 
ground of success, and affords more real encour- 
agement and comfort in the work of saving souls, 
than many favorable circumstances. Missionaries 

* Foreign Missions, pp. 118, 119. 



158 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

can exultingly say with good old John Wesley, 
" The best of all is, God is with us." 

5. The many true converts gathered constitute 
another great source of comfort to the missionary. 
He finds, in the course of years of faithful toil, 
numerous little churches of loving Christians rising 
up around him, witnessing to the truth and power of 
that gospel which he has labored so hard to make 
known, and cheering and encouraging his own heart. 
The greater the difficulties that he has had to over- 
come, the greater his joy in attaining success. Every 
convert brought from heathenism to Christ, he re- 
joices over as though he had obtained great spoil from 
an enemy, or had suddenly found a priceless treasure. 

6. Finally, it is a constant source of satisfaction 
and comfort to the missionary that he is engaged in 
a great and noble work. 

I have spoken of the " meanness " of the mission- 
ary work. But that was only one feature of it, and 
that too, viewed from a worldly, selfish stand-point ; 
a feature, moreover, that when viewed from a higher 
plain and in a clearer and holier light, is seen to con- 
tribute to the very dignity and nobleness of the mis- 
sionary work. If there was nobleness in the 
Saviour's wonderful condescension in leaving the 
heights of glory and humbling himself to man's low, 
sinful, wretched state; if there were dignity and 
nobleness in his mingling with publicans and sin- 
ners, preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the 
broken-hearted, u preaching deliverance to the cap- 
tives, and recovery of sight to the blind," and all 



TRIALS AND COMFORTS. 159 

his other condescending and humane labors to raise 
man from his fallen, lost condition, and restore him 
to favor, communion and happiness with God, then 
is the missionary's a most dignified and noble work. 
The nature of his work brings him into special 
union and sympathy with the work of Jesus. It is 
his privilege to share in a preeminent degree in 
Christ's spirit of self-sacrifice, in the nature and mode 
of his labors, and in the peculiar opposition and 
trials that he meets. Christ came, the great minister 
of humanity to inspire men's hearts with a holy and 
real "enthusiasm of humanity/' and to establish the 
true "religion of humanity;" and the missionary is 
in a peculiar sense a representative of the spirit and 
work of his Master in this respect. 

He is also brought into close sympathy with the 
missionary life and labors of Paul, " the apostle to 
the Gentiles." The apostle esteemed it a special 
favor and honor to be a missionary to the heathen. 
" Unto me," he says, " who am less than the least of 
all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach 
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." 
"Was the apostle Paul's a noble and honorable career, 
then is that also of every faithful missionary of the 
cross. 

Moreover, he is brought into fellowship and sym- 
pathy with all the great philanthropic benefactors of 
their race. Men style Howard "the prince of 
philanthropists," on account of the important mission 
that he performed in behalf of suffering prisoners. 
What appellation shall be accorded to those who go 

13* 



160 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

down into the dungeon of heathenism, and seek to 
loose those bound in the. fetters of idolatry and super- 
stition, and bring them up to the sunlight of God's 
truth and of his forgiving favor, and into "the liberty 
wherewith Christ makes free." If it is noble to 
raise men from moral degradation, to make them vir- 
tuous, intelligent, holy and happy ; if there is honor 
and nobleness in imparting the blessings of the Chris- 
tian religion and of a Christian education and civili- 
zation to nations hitherto sunk in the lowest depths of 
ignorance and degradation, then is the work of foreign 
missionaries incomparably noble and honorable. 

Men of all lands and of all creeds, extol those 
who toil and make sacrifices for the good of others. 
The unselfish are the respected and honored of all 
right-minded men. That characteristic, like gold or 
diamonds, is all the more prized and honored because 
of its rareness. So the work of the missionary, 
which is not prosecuted for the attainment of any 
low, selfish or unworthy end, but solely for the benefit 
of others, stands apart from the common pursuits of 
men, in its own transcendent nobleness. Moreover, 
the missionary looks not for his reward to the mo- 
mentary applause of men, or to the emoluments of 
the present^ but looks forward to the time when he 
shall hear his Master's voice saying, " Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the 
joy of thy Lord;" and when as a reward for the 
*' many " souls that he has been instrumental in 
u turning to righteousness," he shall ^sjhiAe &s the 
stars forever and ever." 



SIG^ T S OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 161 



CHAPTER VII. 

SIGNS OF THE SPEEDY DIFFUSION OF THE GOSPEL 
THEOUGHOUT THE WOULD. 

WHATEVER difference of opinion there may 
be among Christians respecting the ultimate 
conversion of the world, there can be none as 
to the universal diffusion of the gospel. The dec- 
larations and commands contained in the word of 
God, place the certainty of the final dissemination of 
the knowledge of the gospel throughout all nations, 
beyond a reasonable doubt. Take for instance the 
following passages : "His way shall be known upon 
earth, and his saving health among all nations." 
(Ps. lxvii. 2.) " The isles shall wait for his law." 
(Is. xlii. 4.) "All the ends of the earth shall see the 
salvation of our God." (Is. Hi. 10.) From the rising 
of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, 
my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in 
every place shall incense be offered unto my name, 
and a pure offering; for my name shall be great 
among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." (Mai. i. 
11.) " Ask of me, and I will give the heathen for 
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession." (Ps. ii. 8.) "All the ends of the 
earth shall remember and turn to the Lord ; and all 



162 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

the kindreds of the nations shall worship before 
him." (Ps. xxii. 27.) " At the name of Jesus every 
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that 
he is Christ to the glory of God the Father." (Phil, 
ii. 10, 11.) "For the earth shall be filled with the 
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea." (Heb. ii. 14.) " This gospel of the 
kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a 
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end 
come." (Matt. xxiv. 14.) " The gospel must first be 
published among all nations." (Mark xiii. 10.) Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." (Mark xvi. 15) "I saw another angel 
flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting 
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
people." (Rev. xiv. 6.) 

It is evident from these and many others similar 
passages, both that the obligation rests on Christians 
to preach the gospel to every human being through- 
out the world, and the certainty that it will be thus 
preached. The prophetic declarations relating to the 
latter day glory of the church, clearly attribute its 
ushering in, not to an arbitrary act of power at 
Christ's second coming, but to the diffusion of the 
gospel. " The earth shall be filled with the know- 
ledge of the glory of the Lord ;" the "saving health" 
of Christ " shall be known among all nations." 
Moreover the very nature of the gospel scheme 
ensures its success. It is the "leaven" that shall 
leaven "the whole lump," the "stone that shall be- 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 163 

come a great mountain and fill the whole earth." 
Yes, the gospel bearing aloft the cross wet with the 
atoning blood of a crucified yet ever-living Jesus, 
and accompanied by the Holy Spirit's power, that is 
to triumph over all the earth. The mission of the 
church will not be accomplished, until " every crea- 
ture" has heard the gospel's joyful sound. 

1. Of the signs that this glorious period is not far 
distant, I would mention first, the rise and develop- 
ment of modern missions. The modern missionary 
enterprise, which about eighty years since had a 
lowly and small beginning, has already become a 
mighty power in the world. The missionary spirit 
which for years had been struggling in the breast of 
Wm. Carey, and led to the formation of the " Bap- 
tist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the 
Heathen," in 1792, was at that time but as the 
little bubbling fountain. Since then, it has flowed 
on in its course widening and deepening until it 
has become like a mighty river, and bears the 
treasures of the gospel to every land on the face 
of the globe. 

At first the enterprise met with much opposition 
and derision as well as cold indifference. When 
Carey broached the subject of missions to the heathen, 
some would not listen to him, and others endeavored 
to dissuade him from " so visionary a scheme." The 
Baptist Society and their missionaries were ridiculed 
in the periodicals of the day ; and speeches bitterly 
hostile to missions were made in the British Parlia- 
ment. The General Assembly of the Church of 



164 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

Scotland, in 1796, denounced a proposition laid be- 
fore that body to establish a foreign mission, as "il- 
lusive," "visionary," and "dangerous," and rejected 
it, averring that "it was improper and absurd to pro- 
pagate the gospel abroad while there remained a sin- 
gle individual at home without the means of reli- 
gious knowledge." The few students at Williams Col- 
lege, who in 1808 first entertained the idea of a per- 
sonal consecration to a foreign mission, " found so 
little sympathy in the religious community, that they 
long kept their intention a secret." When, at length, 
they ventured to ask advice of the General Associa- 
tion of Massachusetts, two of the six names were 
stricken off their paper, " lest so many candidates for 
a foreign mission should alarm the clerical body." 
Wise divines declared that " their project seemed to 
savor of infatuation," that " the proposal was prema- 
ture," that we had tl more work at home than we can 
do, and that it would be impossible to meet the ex- 
pense." Many opposed the movement on the ground 
that it was " taking God's work out of his hands," 
and interfering with his sovereign purpose and dis- 
posal of things. Thus, throughout Christendom the 
foreign missionary scheme at its commencement met 
with indifference or opposition from many good men, 
while worldly men and infidels scouted the enterprise 
as a fanatical and hopeless undertaking. 

But gradually the duty to obey Christ's last com- 
mand, has come to be very widely understood and 
acknowledged as binding upon all Christians. Pre- 
judices and opposition have been wearing away, and 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 165 

interest and co-operation in giving the gospel to the 
heathen have by degrees taken their place. So that 
now a majority of evangelical Christians are engaged 
in promoting the work of foreign missions. The de- 
velopment of the missionary spirit and enterprise has 
been such as to command respect even from infidels 
and skeptics. And, which is a very significant fact, 
it has caused them to change their ground and wea- 
pons of warfare in attacking Christianity. Instead of 
blindly heaping scorn and ridicule upon Christianity 
and its Author, they have been constrained to study 
the life of Him who is exciting so much philanthro- 
pic feeling and effort throughout the world. Now, 
borne on by the mighty impulse of the beneficent and 
missionary spirit of the age, they are constrained to 
pronounce Jesus a noble and benevolent Character, 
in fact a Benefactor of the race, and join in extolling 
universal philanthropy, universal brotherhood, and a 
universal "religion of humanity ." This breaking 
down of prejudice and opposition to missions, and 
the wide diffusion of the missionary spirit, afford a 
sign very encouraging in its bearing upon the rapid 
spread and ultimate triumph of the gospel. 

To give some idea of the rapid rise and the extent 
of development of missionary interest among Protes- 
tant churches, I quote the following statistics : 

Foreign Missionary Societies established in Great 
Britain and Ireland 20, annual income $2,975,869, 
foreign missionaries 1197. Foreign Missionary So- 
cieties in the United States, 18, income $1,633,891, 
foreign missionaries 490. 



166 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

Foreign Missionary Societies on the continent 14, 
income $622,956, foreign missionaries 478. 

Total Foreign Missionary Societies in Europe and 
the United States 52, income $5,232,716, missiona- 
ries to the heathen 2,165. 

Societies for Jewish Missions 8, income $267,000, 
missionaries 96. 

Woman's Foreign Missionary Societies 14, income 
$211,380, missionaries 149. 

Home Missionary Societies in America and Great 
Britain 36, income $2,336,102, ordained missionaries 
6,946. 

Grand total of principal Home and Foreign mis- 
sionary Societies in Europe and America, 110, in- 
come $8,047,198, missionaries 9,356. 

As another out-growth of the missionary spirit of 
the age, should be added the statistics of Bible and 
Tract Societies. 

Principal Tract Societies in America and Europe 
26, income $1,873,331, number of copies of publica- 
tions distributed from commencement 17,690,410,230, 
in 262 languages and dialects. 

Bible Societies formed since 1804, over 1500, in- 
come about $2,000,000, number of copies of the Bible 
in whole or in part, distributed from the commence- 
ment, 131,392,339, in 274 languages and dialects. 

I mention these statistics as indicative of the 
strength and universality of the missionary interest 
that has already been awakened, — an interest that 
has given a mighty impulse to every department of 
benevolent effort. 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 167 

There are two phases of this missionary zeal, 
worthy of special attention as bearing upon the proba- 
bility of the speedy universal diffusion of the gospel. 
First, the breadth of view entertained, — the object of 
aim being the conversion of the world. The vast 
systematic organization of missionary associations 
over the world, has grown up " w r ith the specific and 
declared purpose to publish the gospel to every crea- 
ture." Hitherto, with perhaps the latter part of the 
apostolic age as an exception, missionary operations 
have been sectional, not having for their object the 
whole world. The second encouraging feature of 
modern missions, especially more recently, is the 
purely spiritual means employed, viz., the simple 
preaching of the gospel, relying upon the power of 
the Holy Spirit to give it success. These means, the 
only ones appointed by Christ for the extension of 
his kingdom, have never since the apostolic age been 
so implicitly relied on by the promoters of missions 
as now. During the middle ages, the so-called pro- 
pagators of Christianity made use of military force, 
political intrigue, ritualism, commerce, schools and 
monasteries ; and the result was a mongrel religion 
made up of Christianity, heathenism and state- 
churchism. 

2. Another sign of the speedy diffusion of the gos- 
pel throughout the world, is the opening of the na- 
tions. At the commencement of the foreign mission- 
ary work, the despotic governments of heathen lands 
were exceedingly suspicious of foreigners. Many of 
them would not allow a foreigner to remain on their 
14 



168 THE FOEEIGK MISSIONARY. 

soil. And where missionaries gained an entrance, 
spies were constantly on their track, their efforts 
Were circumscribed within narrow limits, and the na- 
tives were afraid to hold intercourse with them. It 
was often only by stealth that any Christian truth 
could be communicated to the people. If any be- 
came Christians they were persecuted. In many cases 
the missionary was ordered away, and in some in- 
stances he was put to death. Everywhere, mission- 
aries virtually found the nations of heathendom, as 
well as Mohammedan and Papal countries, closed 
against them. 

In view of these difficulties, a few years since 
Christians who were interested in missions, were 
earnestly beseeching the Lord in his providence to 
remove the barriers and open the nations to the gos- 
pel. Those prayers have been answered. 

The barriers that would exclude the gospel from 
the vast population of India, have been removed. 
The war that put down the great rebellion, in 1858, 
when cast and the Moslem power united for the last 
desperate struggle to throw off the authority of the 
hated " Christian power/' crushed the Sepoy army, 
which was the chief bulwark of cast. At the same 
time, the Mohammedan rule was put to a final end. 
And to crown all, the East India Company which 
was itself a patron for political ends, of idolatry in its 
most wicked and disgusting forms, and was hostile 
to missions, forbidding missionaries to preach to the 
natives and even driving them from their Posses- 
sions, at length, when it had answered its purpose, 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 169 

was also brought to an end. Thus, the last barrier 
was removed, by the wonder-working providence of 
God, and the vast empire of India was fully open to 
the heralds of the cross. 

This event was invested with additional interest, 
and the hand of God in all these overturnings was 
rendered still more manifest, by two important coin- 
cident events. 

At the same time that the revolution in India was 
preparing the way to the throwing off of the shackles 
which fettered the progress of the gospel in that great 
and populous country, the Commissioners of England, 
the United States, France and Russia, were approach- 
ing the shores of the Chinese Empire to demand her 
opening to commerce and Christianity. True, five 
ports, by the war with England in 1842, had been 
nominally opened, but the missionaries at tnese ports 
were much restricted, while all the other parts of the 
empire remained closed. By the treaties that were 
secured as the result of the second war with China, 
in 1858 to 1860, ten new ports were opened, and the 
ancient exclusive power of the government was 
broken. By the stipulations of these treaties, mis- 
sionaries could not only reside and without molesta- 
tion prosecute their missionary labors at the open 
ports, but with passports, they could also traverse 
throughout the empire and preach the gospel to the 
benighted multitudes. Thus were the barriers broken 
down, and the doors opened to admit the good news 
of salvation to a third of the human race, and half 
of the heathen world. And the Chinese government 



170 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

however disposed, can never again close those doors, 
or put more than a partial and temporary restriction 
upon the labors of missionaries. 

Another important coincident event was the fact 
that the United States Consul-general of Japan, was 
at Yeddo, the forbidden city, securing at the hands 
of the most exclusive and intolerant government on 
earth, a treaty of amity and commerce, and the open- 
ing of several ports. Thus an entrance was virtually 
obtained for the gospel, where the name of its Author 
had for three hundred years been the object of the 
most bitter hate and execration, and his professed 
followers put to death. Recently, through the en- 
lightening, liberalizing influence of intercourse with 
Christian nations, the emperor of Japan has abolished 
the edicts against Christianity; thus, even that 
hitherto hostile empire is fully open to the gospel ! 

In intolerant Burmah, where the missionaries often 
were brought into difficulties by the officials, and the 
native Christians, especially the Karens, were often 
bitterly persecuted, the victorious arms of the British 
not only opened the empire, but also brought a large 
portion under the English rule, where of course an end 
was put to persecution. By the treaty of Yandaboo, 
at the close of the first war in 1826, the provinces of 
Arracan, Maulmain and Mergui, were ceded to the 
English. By the treaty made at the close of the 
second war, in 1852, the entire southern portion of 
Burmah as far north as the 19th parallel of N. Lat. 
including the ancient province of Pegu, was incor- 
porated with the territories of British India. It was 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 171 

a joyful day for the Karen Christians when they were 
delivered from the rule of their Burman tormentors.' 

The Siamese King has learned wisdom from the 
follies of his neighbors. He maintains friendly 
relations with foreign nations, and tolerates Chris- 
tianity throughout the kingdom of Siam. 

Thus Eastern and Southern Asia, embracing about 
one half the human race, and fully three-fourths of 
the whole heathen world, have been marvelously 
opened for the propagation of the gospel. 

Closely connected with the opening of Southern 
Asia is that of Western Asia to the labors of mission- 
aries among the Mohammedans and the Nestorians, 
and other pseudo Christian nations. " The security 
of the English empire in India made it imperative 
with England to acquire and to exercise a paramount 
influence in the government of Turkey." " More- 
over, as Kussia was the acknowledged protector of 
Greek Christians in Turkey, and France of the 
Roman Catholics, the English embassies, both at 
Constantinople and in Persia, were providentially in- 
duced to extend protection to the American mission- 
aries and their converts among the Armenians and 
Nestorians, without which neither Turkey nor Persia 
would have been really open to the gospel. Through 
the influence of the British Ambassador at Constan- 
tinople, the death penalty in Mohammedan law for 
abjuring the Moslem faith, was virtually abolished; 
and the Protestant Christians of the Turkish empire 
were recognized by the Sultan as a distinct body, in- 
dependent of all the other Christian sects, and entitled 

14* 



172 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

to the protection of the government in their persons 
and religious privileges."* 

" Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee ; the 
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Behold, 
how war, and how even the cupidity of men, have 
been overruled by the providence of God, to the 
opening of the nations to the gospel ! 

The countries of Southern and Western Africa, of 
South America, the Isles of the Pacific, the wonder- 
ful change in the government of Madagascar towards 
missions, may be cited as additional illustrations of a 
world opening, preparatory to the speedy fulfillment 
of the great commission. 

The opening of papal countries to the circulation 
of the word of God, and to the preaching of a pure 
gospel, is a sign of special promise. Of rigidly 
popish countries in Europe, Austria took the lead 
in throwing off the shackles of priestly bigotry and 
intolerance, and adopting a more liberal and enlight- 
ened policy. Exclusive, benighted and intolerant 
Spain has broken her papal fetters, which so long 
had bound her down, and has now entered upon a 
career of progress and enlightenment. Bibles and 
Christian tracts are freely circulated there, the gospel 
is faithfully proclaimed, and converts to a pure faith 
are rapidly multiplying. Italy, which had so long 
groaned beneath the papal yoke, is now free, and is 
receiving the light of life ; while Borne itself is de- 
livered from the illiberal and oppressive despotism 
of the Pope. Bibles are sold, and the pure gospel 

* Foreign Missions, p. 6. 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 173 

of Christ is freely preached to interested multitudes 
under the very shadow of the Vatican. The tem- 
poral power of the Pope, which had so long been 
employed to bind men's consciences and obstruct the 
progress of truth, is gone beyond recovery, and is 
now only a matter of history. 

Thus an opened world invites the proclamation of 
the gospel ! 

3. Another sign favorable to the rapid spread of 
the gospel is the important position that Protestant 
nations are assuming. 

England, mistress of many nations, and embracing 
an empire on which the sun never sets, stands first 
among all the nations of the earth, in commerce, in 
wealth, and in power. She evidently has a great 
mission to perform in preparing the way for the final 
triumph of the gospel. It was not a small thing to 
be the mother of such a nation as the United States. 
She has performed a great and exceedingly impor- 
tant mission in opening the nations to the gospel. 
Her enormous commerce, carried on with all other 
nations, has usually led the way in establishing mis- 
sions. Another very important result of her exten- 
sive commerce, in connection with the establishment 
of colonies throughout the world, in connection also 
with the commerce of the United States, has been to 
render the English language to a large and rapidly 
increasing extent, universal. Wherever English- 
speaking merchants and missionaries go, an intense 
desire is awakened among the natives, to learn the 
English language. The universal diffusion of the 



174 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

English language, in which is so extensive and pure 
a Christian literature, the language pre-eminently 
" in which Protestant Christianity has found its full- 
est expression," must eventually in no small degree 
aid the universal promulgation of Christianity. 

The United States has a mission whose importance 
to the extension of Christ's kingdom, is no doubt not 
a whit behind that of England. Her rapid growth 
in power and wealth ; her enormous agricultural, 
mineral, manufactural and commercial resources ; her 
capability of indefinite development and expansion ; 
the diffusion of education and general intelligence ; 
the political and religious freedom enjoyed ; the wide 
prevalence of pure, spiritual Christianity, that clings 
to a living Christ instead of dead forms ; the freedom 
of church organizations, being untrammeled, excepting 
the small portion embraced in the Romish church, by 
any priestly or political hierarchy ; the skill, energy 
and enterprise of the people ; the intense earnestness 
in every good work, that is being developed in the 
churches; the wide diffusion of the missionary spirit; 
all these characteristic features indicate that the 
United States has a most important mission in 
speedily extending Christianity throughout the world. 
This view is confirmed by the geographical position 
of the country with reference to heathen nations. It 
is situated between the two great continents, and dis- 
tant from each less than a month's voyage, which 
embrace almost the whole heathen world. The liber- 
ation of four millions of slaves, their general educa- 
tion and elevation, and the training of the pious 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 175 

freedmen for the ministry and to become missionaries 
to Africa, are indications clearly showing that the 
United States has a mission of the first importance 
in evangelizing the benighted millions of that conti- 
nent. On the other hand, the tens of thousands of 
Chinese, and the interesting class of Japanese, that 
are coming from the west, residing for a time in this 
country, becoming acquainted with the English lan- 
guage, with our Christian civilization and enterprise, 
and some of them becoming sincere Christians, and 
returning to communicate their knowledge to the 
multitudes of their countrymen, indicate that the 
United States has a mission of preeminent impor- 
tance to the populous old heathen nations of Asia. 

The rapidly rising power of Prussia,, with her 
Protestantism and revival of evangelical piety, evi- 
dently constitutes another important step of prepara- 
tion for the diffusion of the gospel. 

Why do we to-day see these three great Protes- 
tant nations, which are most free and enlightened, 
most wealthy, most powerful, most highly blessed 
with all the improvements and appliances that 
modern science and art have devised, and already 
holding the balance of power in the world, — why do 
we see these nations at the same time the most 
purely Christian, and most devoted to the missionary 
work, unless it be to contribute in the highest degree 
to the success of that work ? 

4. Another sign of the speedy prevalence of the 
gospel, is found in the many facilities and appliances 
for its dissemination among the nations. For in- 



176 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

stance, the facilities for intercom m an ication. Steam- 
ship lines crossing oceans, rail-roads spanning conti- 
nents, and telegraph lines almost encircling the 
globe, — these have revolutionized the relations of 
Christian with heathen nations. " The heathen are 
no longer in far-off lands ; they dwell at our very 
doors. Science has all but annihilated space. We 
speak with the lightning. We shake, hands across 
the seas. A voyage around the world is but the 
pleasure trip of a summer's vacation." This bring- 
ing of distant nations near to each other is causing 
them to feel a more family relation, and to cherish 
more intimate commercial, diplomatic and religious 
intercourse. The most exclusive heathen nations 
can no longer remain isolated, however much they 
may desire to do so. Nor can they avoid the revolu- 
tionizing, energizing and enlightening effect that the 
contact of Christianity and Christian civilization and 
enterprise will have upon their stagnant and effete 
civilization. The day is past when the gospel can 
be suppressed by a mob, or banished by the edict of 
a despot. The facilities for intercommunication are 
not only preparing the way for the ultimate triumph 
of Christianity, but they already constitute a power- 
ful auxiliary in sending forth missionaries, and in 
disseminating the gospel. 

They have also had the effect to cause Christians 
to realize as never before that "the field is the 
world." Their views have thereby been enlarged. 
The duties and possibilities of the hour have assumed 
in their minds larger proportions. The conversion 



SIGNS OE ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 177 

of the whole world has thus come to appear far more 
feasible than it did formerly. " Let us go in and 
take possession of the nations for Christ" was never 
the language of so many Christians as to-day. 

The facilities for printing, which recent inventions 
have rendered so perfect, also contribute much to the 
rapid dissemination of the Bible and a Christian 
literature. 

So also of many other inventions and appliances, 
which directly or indirectly aid the work of the 
world's speedy evangelization. 

It is a noticeable fact that all the best appliances 
and advantages that can be afforded by freedom, by 
culture, by wealth, by commerce, by national power, 
by moral influence, by science and useful arts, all 
have been providentially put into the hands of Chris- 
tians, — to what end, unless it be to extend the sway 
of Christ's kingdom ? 

5. The spirit of the age is another sign of great 
promise. " Never since time began, was the human 
mind in such close, quick, constant, sympathetic, 
universal communication as now." What a striking 
illustration . of this was afforded by the great Chicago 
fire. While the devouring element was still devasta- 
ting the city, the hearts of the people throughout this 
country and even in several countries in Europe, 
were throbbing with sympathy for the sufferers, and 
many heads and hands were busy in providing and 
sending forward relief. 

"Never was there so general and thorough an 
awakening of mind as now. Look where we will, 



178 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

it is quivering with impulses, thrilling with excite- 
ment, restless for change, panting for a good which 
it has not. This state of things has been brought 
about partly by Christian activity, entirely for 
that activity." * This intense spirit of restlessness 
and activity of the age, is finding its way into 
churches, and it is a most desirable and hopeful in- 
dication. Still, at first there will be some friction. 
"Young America," or " young England," will some- 
times jostle the gravity of the "old fogies." The 
older members may feel that they are not sufficiently 
respected by the younger, who come into the churches 
with hearts glowing and minds active and throbbing 
with the impulses of the age ; and they in turn may 
feel themselves repulsed and disgusted by the cold- 
ness, slowness, and narrow views and plans of the 
old members. Under such circumstances there is 
danger of the young being repelled from active labor 
in and for the church, into associations of their own* 
Already some alarm is created by this tendency. 
It is for the pastors and churches to turn this youth- 
ful activity and zeal to the best account, and make 
them tell on the conversion of the world to God. 
But in order to this, pastor and church must be filled 
with the spirit and love of Christ, must take the 
young members to cordial hearts, they must take the 
lead in every good, beneficent, and especially every 
missionary work. The church must have a charac- 
ter for disinterestedness, liberality, self-denial and 
prayerfulness, — a character for being always ready, 

* The Great Commission, by Harris. 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 179 

ready with plans and with means for seizing every 
opening of usefulness, — a character for living only 
for one object, viz., to establish the reign of Christ 
upon earth. A church possessing such a character, 
will be prepared to use, mould and assimilate every 
good element in it, however zealous, active and effi- 
cient. It can set all its members, especially the 
younger ones, at work and keep them at work doing 
effective service for Christ. Thus the churches, as it 
is their imperative duty to do, can take the direction 
and lead of the intense fervor and activity of the age, 
and render them subservient to the extension of 
Christ's kingdom. It is one of the encouraging in- 
dications of the times, that the churches are doing 
this very thing. And no doubt their missionary 
enthusiasm will rise higher and higher, and that they 
will constantly advance in their aggressive move 
ments. 

The spirit of the age is eminently missionary in its 
character. The chief element of the missionary 
spirit is that of benevolence, which indeed is a dis- 
tinctive and characteristic feature of Christianity 
itself, — " God manifest in Jesus Christ dying for the 
sins of the world." There never was a time when 
there was so much diffusive sympathy and benevo- 
lence for the poor and the needy as in the present 
day. Even " novelists and essayists, with their phil- 
osophical theories; speculative thinkers, with skepti- 
cal schools and speculations ; are all basing theories 
on one great central fact, viz., the strong are to be 
the benefactors of the weak, the rich are to be the 
15 



180 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

almoners of the poor, the wise ones sent to be the 
school- masters of the ignorant." Thus the reflex in- 
fluence of missions has caused the missionary spirit 
to overflow the boundaries of the churches, and to 
diffuse abroad everywhere. And the more widely 
this spirit takes possession of the people of the age, 
the more powerfully will it tend to hasten the uni- 
versal dissemination of the gospel. 

This is emphatically an age of organization for the 
missionary enterprise. All the multitudinous benev- 
olent, Bible, tract, Sunday-school and missionary 
associations, are but the missionary spirit of the age 
organized into effective working order. It has been 
well said that, " Christianity as a force was never 
more vigorous, never more operative than now. It 
is better organized, and our ministers do ten times 
the amount of work as formerly. Christianity was 
never so calculated to take possession of the world, 
never had so much organized force pressing forward 
as now." * 

Again, the existence of the missionary spirit is 
exerting a fusing, uniting influence upon the hearts 
of all Christians, however they may differ on some 
points. And while it is not desirable, and would not 
conduce to their activity and efficiency, but the 
reverse, were all denominations to be merged into 
one great ecclesiastical body, still the union of Chris- 
tians of every name, in the love and spirit of Christ, 
imparts to them greatly increased power in removing 

* H. W. Beecher. 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 181 

objections to Christianity, and in fulfilling their great 
mission in the world. 

The divine law of beneficence, though as com- 
pared with the freeness with which men respond to 
the calls of worldly enterprises, useless and injurious 
habits, and luxury and extravagance, its claims are 
but feebly acknowledged, yet is better understood in 
the churches, and more generally acted upon than 
in any former age since the apostles. 

There are some signs also, that the spirit of entire 
consecration, the spirit of Christ pervading and 
abiding in the soul, the spirit of love, and entire and 
constant trust in Christ, in a word, the spirit of holi- 
ness is also becoming more and more pervading 
among Christians. And this is the most essential 
qualification for the great work of evangelizing the 
nations. 

6. Finally, the success already attained by mis- 
sions, is an earnest of the ultimate triumph of the 
gospel. 

One point attained is the exploration of the mis- 
sion fields. Nearly all the unevangelized countries 
of the world have been explored. Their geography 
and climate, the number, physical condition and 
social status of their inhabitants, have been carefully 
investigated and made known with direct reference 
to missionary operations. 

Great progress has also been made in the mission- 
ary occupation of the nations. Missionary societies 
have about fourteen thousand native and foreign mis- 
sionary laborers occupying all the more important 



182 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

regions of the unevangelized world. There is no con- 
siderable nation on the face of the globe, where mis- 
sionaries are not to-day found preaching the gospel. 

The Bible also has been translated and circulated 
in every principal language and many of the dialects 
of the world. In heathen lands, at least one hun- 
dred and twenty-two languages " have been enriched 
and ennobled within the past fifty years by having 
God's word transfused into them." Not less than 
ten million copies of the Scriptures have been circu- 
lated among heathen nations ; " a far greater number 
of copies than were in the hands of mankind through 
all the ages of the world, from Moses to the Reform- 
ation." Here then is one great step towards the 
world's evangelization, already taken, one great essen- 
tial work completed — the word of God has been put 
into the hands of all nations in their own languages ! 

In regard to the success of missions in actual re- 
sults, — in conversions, in establishing mission-sta- 
tions, in raising up native preachers, and in render- 
ing nations Christian, a few general statements and 
statistics must suffice. 

It is said that on one occasion, Judson, taking a 
globe and pointing to continents, cities and islands, 
the centres of Christian influence and civilization, 
joyfully exclaimed, "See! how the gospel light en- 
circles the world !" Let us see how, at this day, 
mission-stations, and "gospel light" in a far broader 
sense, encircle the globe. 

Commencing with the Indian tribes of our own 
country and in the British possessions, including 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 183 

Labrador, we find that notwithstanding the difficul- 
ties and obstacles that Indian missions have to meet, 
and the breaking up of several missions during the 
late civil war, still in 1868 fourteen missionary 
societies had one hundred and five ordained and one 
hundred and thirty-five assistant missionaries en- 
gaged in imparting to them a knowledge of the gos- 
pel, and seeking their spiritual renovation and their 
advancement in civilization. Partial returns show 
that at least there are between forty and fifty native 
preachers among these tribes, of whom sixteen are 
ordained, about eight thousand two hundred commu- 
nicants, and about eighteen hundred pupils in the 
schools. Recently there has been a great work 
among the Dakotahs, in which " within a period of 
three years more than five hundred were admitted to 
the churches." " The missions to the Cherokee and 
Choctaw Indians, tribes numbering about 40,000 
souls, were begun in 1816 and 1818 ; and in 1860 
they were pronounced a Christian people." 

In Greenland, nearly half the entire population is 
in membership with the Lutheran churches. 

In the Spanish American states, six societies have 
over seventy foreign missionaries and assistant mis- 
sionaries laboring, of whom over thirty are ordained. 
There are several native preachers, about eleven hun- 
dred communicants, and over five hundred pupils 
in schools. The American Presbyterian Society 
alone, has in South America five native assistants, 
one of whom is ordained, and two hundred and sev- 
enty-eight communicants, at seven stations. 

15* 



184 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

In Guiana and the West Indies, there are two 
hundred and seventeen foreign and eighty-one native 
ordained missionaries. There are over eighty-two 
thousand communicants in the churches, and seven- 
teen thousand scholars in their schools. 

Passing to the islands of the Pacific Ocean, we 
have first the Sandwich Islands, where we find a re- 
cently most degraded nation of savages, now as the 
glorious result of missionary labors, transformed into 
a Christian nation. Nearly one-third part of the in- 
habitants are communicants. There are fifty-eight 
independent, self-supporting churches, forty-four in 
charge of a native ministry. They support thirty- 
three native ordained pastors at home, and seventeen 
of their own men as foreign missionaries in Microne- 
sia and the Marquesas Islands. They contribute $30, 
000 in gold annually for benevolent objects. With 
the aid of their own government, which appropriates 
over $40,000 annually for the object, they maintain 
educational institutions of all grades, from the com- . 
mon school to the college. They also conduct nu- 
merous Sunday Schools, and print annually between 
two and three million pages of Christian literature in 
six different languages. They expend about $1,500, 
annually in colporteur labors among Chinese immi- 
grants ! Their one hundred and twenty church 
buildings are valued at a quarter of a million of dol- 
lars. The commerce of their Islands, another illus- 
tration of the reflex benefits of missions, amounts to 
over four million dollars a year. 

The islands of Eastern and Central Polynesia have 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 185 

also " been won from the domains of heathendom, 
and have been added to the domains of Christendom." 
Sixty years ago these Islands were inhabited only by 
savages with not a solitary native Christian; now, 
more than half the adult population are recognized 
members of Christian churches, a very large propor- 
tion of the people attend worship on the Sabbath, 
and "it would be difficult to find a professed idola- 
ter on the islands." " They educate their children. 
They sustain their native ministers, and send their 
noblest sons as missionaries to the heathen islands 
that lie farther west." They are gathered together 
in peaceful villages ; they are constructing roads, cul- 
tivating their lands, and engaging in commerce. 

The Feejee Islands, about eighty in number, with 
a population of 200,000, afford another striking illus- 
tration of the power of the gospel in converting sava- 
ges into a Christian nation. Thirty-six years ago, 
these people were barbarous cannibals ; now about 
one half of them attend public worship and possess 
and read the Bible. About twenty-five thousand or 
one-eighth of the population, are church members. 
They have six hundred and sixty-three native 
preachers, of whom forty-five are ordained ; while 
there are over one thousand school teachers and 
thirty-six thousand pupils in their schools. Canni- 
balism, polygamy and infanticide are fast passing 
away from the islands. " No more do the avengers 
of blood come as savage warriors, or as stealthy as- 
sassins, but make their peaceful appeals to laws 
founded on the Word of God." 



186 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

In new Zealand, Australia, and the other large 
islands of Australasia and of Malaysia, hundreds of 
missionaries and assistant-missionaries, and many 
native preachers, are faithfully laboring, and the gos- 
pel has won some glorious victories. Many of the 
barbarous natives have been converted and gathered 
into Christian churches, and many pupils have been 
gathered into schools. On many of these islands we 
may confidently expect ere long to see a Christian 
civilization take the place of savage life, as it already 
has done on many islands in Polynesia. 

In Japan, six Societies have fourteen missionaries 
laboring, preparing the ground, sowing the seed, and 
expecting ere long, with the blessing of God, to reap 
rich harvests of souls for the heavenly garner. 
Already several small churches have been formed, 
and a deep and wide-spread spirit of religious inquiry 
has been awakened. The Bible in Chinese, the 
classical language of Japan, has been given and sold 
in great numbers, and many of the people are dili- 
gently reading it. Portions of Scripture have also 
been translated and published in the Japanese lan- 
guage, which are eagerly sought and read by the peo- 
ple. A religious literature and dictionaries and 
other helps to learning the language, are being pre- 
pared. The nation is moving rapidly in the direc- 
tion of reform and progress. They are adopting 
with avidity the best usages of Christian nations, and 
in the various improvements of the age they are ad- 
vancing with rail-road speed. The imperial govern- 
ment and the princes of the provinces, have in opera- 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 187 

tion seventeen or more schools of high grade, for 
teaching foreign languages and sciences and profes- 
sions, in which are over three thousand pupils. They 
are also sending many young men, and even some 
young women, to be educated in Christian lands. 
By all these progressive movements and missionary 
labors, supplemented by religious toleration, the way 
is evidently being prepared for the speedy prevalence 
of Christianity throughout that beautiful island- 
empire. 

In the great empire of China, with her 370,000,000 
of inhabitants, twenty-four missionary societies have 
over one hundred and sixty missionaries faithfully 
promulgating the gospel. The field already occupied 
embraces a large portion of the six maritime pro- 
vinces, extending from Canton in the south, to Kal- 
gan, 150 miles beyond Peking, in the north ; a 
region nearly two thousand miles in length by from 
one hundred to six hundred miles in breadth, con- 
taining about one-fourth part of the area of the 
eighteen provinces of China Proper, and in which 
dwells a population of not less than one hundred and 
twenty millions. Throughout this field there are 
nearly four hundred mission-stations. Some four 
hundred native preachers have been raised up who 
are daily employed in proclaiming the glad tidings 
of salvation to the multitudes of their countrymen ; 
and nearly seven thousand communicants are con- 
nected with the churches. A wide spirit of inquiry 
has been awakened, and all the laborers in that land 
feel much encouraged, and are confidently expecting 



188 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

ere long to behold such a turning to the Lord as has 
never been witnessed in any other nation. Five 
complete versions of the Bible, several versions of 
the New Testament, and over seven hundred other 
treatises chiefly on Christianity, have been prepared 
and circulated in vast numbers. The Chinese 
government, though impassive and averse to change, 
yet is beginning to move in the direction of progress. 
This appears from the following facts: — The govern- 
ment has established a university at Peking for 
teaching foreign sciences; it is employing foreign 
and native scholars in translating scientific works, 
and in teaching foreign languages to classes of Chi- 
nese youths; it is adopting foreign arms and foreign 
military tactics, and is beginning to employ gun- 
boats; it has established four large arsenals where 
over three thousand Chinese young men are being 
taught by foreigners to make machinery and all kinds 
of war material. As China has begun so must she go 
on in a career of progress ; and the way is evidently 
preparing for her vast population to be brought 
under the sway of the gospel. 

In Siam, four Societies have their representatives 
laboring; and several small churches have been 
formed, both among the natives, and among the 
Chinese who have settled there in large numbers. 

In Burmah, where Judson labored six years for 
his first convert, there have been over forty thousand 
converts from heathenism brought into the churches, 
of whom about twenty thousand are at the present 
time communicants. There are four hundred and 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 189 

fourteen native churches, with nearly five hundred 
native preachers, of whom eighty-one are ordained. 
The native Christians annually contribute over 
$21,000 for benevolent objects ; they have about six 
thousand pupils in their schools ; and there is a na- 
tive Christian population of about sixty thousand. 
The Karens, among whom the gospel has had un- 
precedented success, are virtually a Christian nation. 
In the great empire of India, where heathenish 
darkness and Satan and moral evil reigned undis- 
turbed for so many ages, and where BrahmLiism, 
Hindooism, Cast, superstition, and that great selfish 
corporation the East India Company, all united to 
keep out the gospel, there are now about fifty thou- 
sand native Christian communicants in the churches, 
over three thousand native preachers, of whom about 
two hundred and eighty are ordained, three thousand 
mission stations and out stations, about two hundred 
and fifty thousand nominal Christians, with ninety 
thousand boys and thirty-two thousand girls in their 
schools. The contributions of the native Christians 
in India, amount to about $100,000 annually. But 
mere statistics give a very imperfect view of what 
has been accomplished in that empire. " The cruel- 
ties of heathenism have been greatly modified, infanti- 
cide prohibited, Sutteeism abolished, the government 
no longer sustains idolatry by grants but aids Chris- 
tian schools, the law of inheritance has been so 
changed that the convert is protected in his rights 
and the faith that he professes is everywhere recog- 
nized. Christianity is working wonderful changes in 



190 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

the social fabric, as in the education and moral eleva- 
tion of woman. It has permeated society with 
Christian knowledge, and has undermined the faith 
of myriads in their own false systems. India, in its 
knowledge of the truth, needs only the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost to make it wholly a Christian land." 
Missions have also been extended over a large 
portion of Western Asia. They "have gained a 
footing in most of the more important influential 
posts among the races speaking the Arabic, Turkish, 
Syriac, Armenian and Bulgarian languages." Mis- 
sionaries " have pressed their way into the very birth- 
place of the human race, and into the very heart of 
Mohammedan power, and in spite of fanaticism, 
relentless hate, and unbridled passion, they have 
remained preaching Jesus the Son of God, the only 
Saviour of the world — a doctrine so repugnant to the 
Moslem and so opposed to the claims of their prophet 
and the teachings of their Koran." Among the 
Nestorians, over six hundred Cnristians are recognized 
by the missionaries as worthy communicants, about 
seventy of the Ncstorian priests are evangelical 
preachers of the gospel ; they have gathered ninety 
congregations, and have in operation sixty schools. 
In the Turkish empire and Syria, there are one 
hundred and fifteen native preachers of whom fifty 
are ordained, one hundred churches, five thousand 
communicants, twenty-five thousand Protestants, 
three hundred places where the gospel is preached, 
two colleges with three hundred and fifty students, 
twelve theological training schools with one hundred 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 191 

and thirty students, ten female seminaries with three 
hundred and fifty pupils, two hundred and eighty 
common schools, with three hundred teachers and 
eighty thousand scholars. They have two religious 
weekly newspapers, and three mission presses. Sev- 
eral editions of the Bible, and two hundred and fifty 
religious and educational works, have been issued in 
six different languages. 

The kingdom of Madagascar, where the little band 
of disciples for a period of twenty five years was sub- 
ject to a terrible persecution, and where vital Chris- 
tianity was kept alive only by secret prayer and 
private reading of God's Word, is now rapidly becom- 
ing a Christian nation. There are already over two 
thousand native preachers, of whom twenty-five are 
ordained, over twenty thousand Church members, 
over two hundred thousand nominal Christians, and 
" the religion of the Cross is the one recognized re- 
ligion throughout the kingdom." The places of 
Christian worship are crowded to excess, and Chris- 
tian institutions are fast taking the place of idolatrous 
rites and customs. This is a wonderful work, and it 
affords a very cheering sign of the times. 

Ethiopia has begun in earnest to " stretch out her 
hands to God." In the countries bordering on the 
Mediterranean, and especially in Egypt and Abys- 
sinia, missionaries are laboring, and are beginning to 
reap the fruits of their labors. 

In Southern Africa, eleven missionary Societies 
have over one hundred missionaries laboring at sta- 
tions scattered over a region extending through four- 
16 



192 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

teen degrees of latitude and nearly as many of longi- 
tude. They have raised up several hundred native 
assistants, and there are in the churches connected 
"with the various missions about thirty thousand com- 
municants. 

Missions are scattered along the West African 
coast a distance of some 2,000 miles. They contain 
over one hundred churches, about fifteen thousand con- 
verts, and more than fifty thousand nominal Chris- 
tians ; " thus forming an excellent base for future mis- 
sionary operations in the interior." More than twenty 
different dialects have been reduced to writing, in 
which the Bible and other religious books have been 
translated and printed. At Freetown, the capital of 
Liberia, there are "twenty-three churches built of 
stone, handsome edifices which cost from $2,000, to 
$20,000, each, in which some thirty thousand Afri- 
cans worship God every Sabbath." 

Not only has the gospel won its victories among 
pagans, Mohammedans and papists, but even among 
the " dispersed of Israel," some ten thousand have 
been added to the church of Christ since missionaries 
commenced their labors among them. 

But I need not speak particularly of every mis- 
sion. Suffice it to say in general, that it is estima- 
ted that there are in heathen lands in all the vari- 
ous missions, two thousand five hundred churches, 
ten thousand native preachers and catechists, more 
than two hundred and eighty thousand native Chris- 
tians in the churches, about one million one hundred 
and fifty-one thousand nominal Christians, and about 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 193 

three hundred and sixty thousand scholars of both 
sexes in the schools. 

But in estimating the results of missions, the vast 
amount of Christian knowledge diffused abroad 
among the heathen, which like seed sown in the 
earth will hereafter spring up and yield a harvest, 
and the wide spirit of inquiry that has been awakened 
throughout the heathen world, should also be taken 
into the account. It should not be forgotten also, 
that the work hitherto has been chiefly preparatory, 
exploring the fields, learning languages, in many 
cases reducing them to writing, preparing books, 
translating the Scriptures, erecting buildings, becom- 
ing acquainted with the customs and habits of the 
people, dispelling suspicions and prejudices, impart- 
ing new ideas to minds dull of perception, removing 
a vast accumulation of distorted religious notions and 
puerile superstitions, eradicating a luxurious and 
tangled growth of deep-rooted vices, making known 
the gospel, forming churches, and laying the founda- 
tion of Christian institutions and a Christian civili- 
zation. Thus, much labor spent in laying the foun- 
dation of missions in a heathen land, does not appear 
upon the surface, yet it is a work of essential and 
paramount importance. 

Moreover, if in estimating the results of missions, 
we would obtain an idea of their completeness, 
symmetry and beauty, we must also take into view the 
countless physical, mental and moral, benefits im- 
parted. Taming the savage, raising the degraded, 
enlightening the ignorant and benighted, setting in 



194 THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY. 

motion far-reaching beneficent influences, changing 
idolaters into worshippers of the living and true God, 
changing wretched families into happy Christian 
homes, putting the Word of God in the place of vain 
superstitions, changing characters besotted by the 
most debasing vices and crimes to those of virtue and 
purity, quickening consciences "seared with a hot 
iron," imparting the fear and love of God as motives 
to right action instead of expediency and selfishness, 
removing the burden of sin from hearts that knew 
no rest, imparting the prospect of a blessed immor- 
tality to those without hope, in short, imparting all 
the blessings of Christianity and of a Christian and 
enlightened civilization to tribes and nations hitherto 
in all the darkness, degradation and hopelessness of 
heathenism ! 

May not the success that the gospel has already 
attained, be taken as a precursor of its speedy diffu- 
sion throughout the world ? Do not the signs indi- 
cate that the time of the fulfilment of the glorious 
promises and prophecies relating to the final triumph 
of the gospel, is at hand ? Is not the occupation of 
so many important points throughout the heathen 
world, and the already wide diffusion of a knowledge 
of the gospel among heathen nations, a providential 
and admirable preparation for the time when the 
powerful and universal effusion of the Holy Spirit 
spoken of by the prophets, shall cause Pentecostal 
seasons over all the earth ? When " the Spirit shall 
be poured from on high," then " the wilderness shall 
be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted 



SIGNS OF ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 195 

for a forest;" then, "the earth shall be made to bring 
forth in one day, and nations shall be born at once ;" 
" And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and 
all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it." 

What servant of God will not put himself into the 
line of God's providence and grace, stand in his lot, 
and join in the labors and sacrifices necessary to ad- 
vance Christ's kingdom, that at length he may share 
in its triumph. It is an error and vain for a Chris- 
tian to say in his heart, " the work is God's and he 
by his mighty power will carry it forward, he does 
not need my aid." God is not necessarily dependent 
upon human aid in extending his kingdom, still in 
his sovereign wisdom and purpose he has determined 
to employ human agency in this work ; and it is a 
fact fully substantiated by history, that his kingdom 
does not advance without human agency exerted vol- 
untarily and in accordance with his requirements. 
God in his wonderful condescension and grace, has 
seen fit to commit the "treasure" of his gospel to 
"earthen vessels," who are to bear it to others. 
Moreover, the conversion of man is not the work of 
almighty arbitrary power, but the effect of moral 
truths and motives, accompanied by the enlightening 
influence of the Holy Spirit to impress them upon 
the heart. The great Head of the Church has laid 
the high honor of presenting to men's minds gospel 
truths and motives to repentance and faith, upon his 
disciples. He has sent them forth as his " ambassa- 
dors," yea, has constituted them " workers together 

16* 



196 THE FOEEIGN MISSIONARY. 

with God." And unless voluntary human agency 
is put forth, souls will not be converted and saved, 
any more than a crop will be reaped where the seed 
has not been sown. 

In view of this whole subject, who will not ask 
himself the question, "What is required of me?" 
"What is required of me?" Wliat Christian will 
not also go and do with his might what his hands 
find to do? Should not the extension of Christ's 
kingdom throughout the world, have the first place 
in the heart of every redeemed soul ? Should not 
every Christian make his plans, his business, and his 
use of the property over which God has made him 
steward, all subservient to the diffusion of the gospel 
and the saving of a perishing world ? 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 



A PREMIUM TRACT. 



11 It is a great step towards the Christianizing of 
our planet, if Christianity gain entrance into China." 
Thus spake Neander, in a speech at Berlin on the Chinese 
mission, July 6, 1850, but eight days before his death. 

His reasons for this deep interest in that field, were 
these: "In the first place, there is that vastness ; since 
thereby Christianity may have access to a third part of 
the earth 'g population. Moreover, there is that peculiar 
interest which the quality of the nation affords. We 
find here a nation in which, for centuries, there has 
been a large amount of civilization and culture ; where 
many arts and handicrafts flourished a long time before 
they were thought of in the European nations." 

That " great step towards the Christianizing of our 
planet," has been taken. The opening of the Chinese 
empire, — the throwing open of the doors to admit the 
gospel to a third of the human race, — is undoubtedly 
one of the greatest among the great events of the 
present age, and one that should awaken no ordinary 
interest throughout the Christian world. It is an event 
in which the hand of God is clearly manifest, preparing 
A 



198 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

the way, and leading forward the grand yet gradual 
movement of his kingdom, toward the period when the 
heathen shall be given to the Son for an inheritance, 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. 
The time has evidently come, when every Christian 
should inform himself respecting this field, and labor 
for its evangelization. 

In the following pages, it is proposed to notice those 
characteristics that render China a mission-field of 
paramount importance. Those features are chiefly the 
following : Its antiquity ; its vastness ; the " quality " 
of the people ; their benighted and lost condition ; the 
religious history of China ; the encouraging success of 
Protestant missions in that field ; and the fact that it is 
now brought so near Christian nations. 

1. Its great antiquity. The origin of the Chinese, 
from the best light we have, appears to be as follows : 
During the first century after the confounding of 
tongues, five or six nomadic tribes from the region 
southeast of the Caspian sea,* made their way eastward 
by successive stages seeking out the best watered and 
most productive places, and finally settled along the 
banks of the Yellow river in the north, and in the basin 
of the great Yang-tze river, in the central and western 
portions of what is now the Chinese empire. The tribe 
which constituted the original progenitors of the Chi- 
nese race, chiefly by their superior skill in agriculture, 
their settled habits of labor, and by possessing them- 
selves of the low, rich lands along the water courses, 
which the renowned " emperor " Yu, drained and pro- 
tected from inundation by building dikes, became more 
prosperous than their neighboring tribes ; and gradually, 
by conquests, alliances, and intermarriages, they ab- 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 199 

sorbed all the other tribes except the Miau-tze, who 
exist among the mountains as a distinct race to this day, 

China was consolidated into a nation, in the feudal 
form, about the . beginning of the Chow dynasty, 1088 
B. C, and the present despotic form of government 
took the place of the feudal system, about two hundred 
and twenty years before the Christian era. 

Thus, China has existed almost from the time of the 
confusion of tongues ; and has had a consolidated gov- 
ernment or nationality nearly three thousand years. 
Other ancient nations, as Assyria, Babylonia, ancient 
Egypt, ancient Greece, and the ancient Turanian and 
Aztec nations, all rose and flourished for a time, but at 
length became extinct, and the mouldering ruins of 
their renowned cities alone tell of their former great- 
ness. Later empires, as the Syrian and Roman, rose, 
had their period of prosperity, power, and luxury, and 
long since fell into decay. But there stands China, 
unmoved by the waves of time, existing through all the 
long ages, and through twenty-eight changes of dynasty ; 
with her system of government, her laws, her arts, her 
habits and customs, unchanged ; and greater in popula- 
tion and wealth during the first half of the present 
century, than in any former period of her long history ! 
A wonderful nation that, thus to withstand the shock of 
repeated bloody revolutions, and changes of rulers, and 
remain the same amid all national vicissitudes for so 
many ages. Why, at the departure of the Hebrews 
from Egypt, China was already about seven hundred 
years old ; when Isaiah prophesied of her future conver- 
sion to God (Isa. xlix. 12), she had existed fifteen cen- 
turies; and while Homer was composing and singing 
the Iliad, her blind minstrels were celebrating the deeds 



200 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

of her ancient heroes, Yaou, Shun, and Yu, whose tombs 
had been with them nearly thirteen hundred years ! 

2. The vastness of this field. Some idea of the 
vast extent of the Chinese Empire may be obtained by 
considering its line of sea coast, running nearly three 
thousand miles ; its extensive mountain ranges ; its 
broad plains, rich and " well watered " as the plain of 
Jordan that Lot beheld and coveted, yea, even " as the 
garden of the Lord," the largest of which has an area 
of about three hundred thousand square miles ; its mag- 
nificent rivers, the largest, the Yang-tze, being thirty- 
three hundred miles in length, the third river in the 
world, and draining a basin of about eight hundred and 
fifty thousand square miles, in which dwells a population 
of some one hundred and eighty millions ; its vast 
area, embracing nearly five million square miles, or 
greater by about a million and a half than that of the 
whole United States, including Alaska, and about one 
million and three hundred thousand square miles greater 
than all Europe. ' . 

But the mere physical features of the empire, are of 
small importance as compared with the vastness of the 
population. A stranger on first visiting that land, is most 
forcibly struck with the immense number of people that 
he sees swarming on every hand. "Wherever he goes, to 
the hills or to the islands, whose bare and apparently 
barren summits appear incapable of sustaining a single 
human being, even there he finds habitations and ham- 
lets filled with inhabitants ; he finds all the vast plains 
thickly dotted with populous villages; he beholds all 
the water-courses and canals swarming with boats in- 
stinct with human life; while in the streets of every 
one of the numerous great cities throughout the empire 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 201 

he finds, on every day in the year, a vast crowd of 
human beings hurrying, jostling, hustling on as if it 
were some great festal day. 

The Chinese census of 1839 gave a population of 
four hundred and fifteen millions. And though some 
have thought so great a number to be incredible, yet for 
several years past, it has generally been admitted by 
those best acquainted with China, that at least the pop- 
ulation is about four hundred millions. During the 
last twenty years, however, civil wars, famine, and 
pestilence have probably reduced the population to 
about three hundred and seventy millions. Even at 
this estimate, the population is nearly ten times that 
of the United States, more than thirteen times that of 
Great Britain and Ireland, about one-third greater than 
that of all Europe, and more than double the popula* 
tion of the four continents of North and South Ameri- 
ca, Africa, and Oceanica, all combined; in short, about 
one-third of the earth's inhabitants is found in this on* 
empire. 

It is this inconceivable number of our fellow men, 
possessing in common with us intelligent immortal souls, 
capable of indefinite improvement and happiness, that 
especially constitutes China the greatest and most im- 
portant of mission fields. The mass of Christians, it is 
to be feared, have but a very vague and inadequate idea 
of the vast extent and importance of this field, which 
but recently has been opened to missionary effort. Has 
not their attention been too exclusively confined to the 
smaller fields already opened and occupied, so that now 
itrs difficult for them to comprehend the greatness and 
sublimity of the enterprise here presented, and which 
demands the most active employment of all the energies 



202 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

and appliances at their command? What is the Chris- 
tianizing of a few islands and small countries, compared 
with the great work to be done in this populous empire I 
Were all the islands of Oceanica, with Siam, Burmah, 
Assam, and all the other bordering nations to become 
thoroughly Christianized, still they are comparatively 
so small that the great system of heathenism in Asia, 
would scarcely feel the shock. It would be but the 
carrying of a few pickets and out-posts, while the main 
fortress remains strong and impregnable. "Until China 
is converted to God, idolatry and heathenism will remain 
in their pride, power, and ascendency in the world. 

Should not then, all who are interested in the spirit- 
ual conquest of the world, fix their attention earnestly 
upon this stronghold of heathenism ? Should they not 
in this age of broad views and great enterprises, take 
the most enlarged views of the great work before them, 
and not allow a few minor tribes or nations to absorb 
their attention and circumscribe their effort ? Surely 
the great commission will not be obeyed, until the. gos- 
pel shall be faithfully preached to every dweller in the 
seventeen hundred walled cities, and the hundreds of 
thousands of villages throughout the Chinese Empire ! 

S. The superior quality or character of the people, ia 
another important feature of this field. The Chinese 
have more strength of intellect, more solidity of char- 
acter, and a higher civilization, than any other heathen 
nation. This is shown by their early formation of a 
wise system of government, and an able code of laws; 
by their invention of the art of manufacturing silk 
fabrics, which near the commencement of the Chris- 
tian era were sold to the luxurious Romans for their 
weight in gold ; by the manufacture, also, of porcelain 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 203 

and China-ware, the best in the world ; by the early 
use, and perhaps invention, of gunpowder and the 
magnetic needle ; and by the invention of the art 
of printing five hundred years before it was known 
in the West. That they have good mental ability is 
also shown by their extensive literature, containing some 
works of sterling and permanent value ; by their 
thoroughly elaborated language, possessing much ful- 
ness and power of expression ; and by their long list of 
sages and literary men. China has given a literature, a 
code of morals, and a religion, to her dependencies, 
Manchuria, Mongolia, and Thibet, to the inhabitants of 
Cochin China, to the thirty-five millions of Japan, and 
to the Coreans. The people of all these countries look 
up to the Chinese as their acknowledged teachers. It is 
not too much to affirm, that China has for ages been the 
great centre of what light and civilization have been 
enjoyed throughout Eastern Asia. As an indication of 
their intellectual ability, the fact may also be mentioned 
that the few Chinese who have been educated in Eu- 
ropean and American colleges and universities have 
acquitted themselves with honor. A few years since, a 
Chinaman in Yale College bore off the first prize in his 
class, for merit in English composition. 

Their strength of character is manifest in their firm 
adherance to the opinions and principles which they 
adopt; and in the vital and recuperative energy of 
those ideas into which they have been educated, and 
which during their development and growth as a na- 
tion, have carried them through all political agitations 
and temporary impediments. The stability of their 
character is strikingly observable in their aversion to 
change ; in their love of order and method ; the regularity 



204 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

of their habits; their diligence in business; and in 
their quiet and persevering industry. 

They confessedly stand superior to all other Eastern 
races, in practical wisdom and common sense, and in 
the manly vigor of their physical, moral, and intellec- 
tual characters. Surely there is more encouragement 
in laboring to Christianize and elevate a nation like this 
than there is in the case of a people who have little 
strength of mind or of character. 

4. But there is a dark, as well as bright side to this 
picture. The good qualities of the Chinese render 
their ignorance and superstition, their wickedness and 
lost condition, all the more lamentable, and should en- 
list our deepest sympathies and most earnest efforts for 
their salvation. 

There are those who, boasting of the education and 
enlightenment, the civilization and morality of the 
Chinese, assert that these rendered all efforts to Chris- 
tianize them uncalled for. 

Chinese " education and enlightment." It is a mis- 
nomer to speak of educated or learned Chinese. No 
Chinaman is learned or educated in our sense of those 
terms. No science is taught in their schools. Their 
literary men are as utterly ignorant of the natural 
sciences, of the geography and history of other coun- 
tries, and of mathematics, and are as superstitious, as 
the most uncultivated classes. In their view, the earth 
is a plain occupied chiefly by China; the sun and stars 
revolve around the earth ; the rain and the tides are 
caused by dragons; the wind, by tigers in the hills; 
sickness, by evil spirits; prosperity and adversity by 
imaginary principles, or essences, called the Ying and the 
Yang; necromancy, astrology, and every art of divination 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 205 

are accredited sciences ; these and countless other ab- 
surdities and superstitions are entertained as verities 
by the great body of the literati of China. Their edu- 
cation consists simply in committing to memory their 
11 Four Books and Five Classics," with the commenta- 
ries upon them, and writing of ethical, historical, and 
poetical essays, which are made up largely of quotations 
from their classics. 

Thus their memories are developed to the neglect and 
detriment of their reasoning faculties, while all freedom 
of thought and all originality are discouraged and pro- 
eluded. Of those even thus very defectively educated, 
constituting the literary class, the number is very small, 
probably not more than two per cent, of the adult male 
population. Of those who can but indifferently read 
and write, there are perhaps thirty per cent. ; while the 
education of females is entirely neglected. The ignor- 
ance and superstition of the people have kept China in 
a stagnant or retrograde condition more than two thou- 
sand years, constituting an effectual bar to a high state 
of civilization, and a clog to every move in the direc- 
tion of progress. 

The nature of Chinese civilization may be inferred 
from the following facts, — the people have no news- 
papers, no voice in the government, no politics, and no 
trial by jury ; torture, as an ordeal to extort testimony 
from witnesses, and confession from supposed criminals, is 
in general use among the officials ; they also practice the 
greatest cruelties upon offenders ; in time of wars, the 
indiscriminate slaughter of innocent men, women, and 
children is usually practiced ; the rudest warlike and 
industrial implements, handed down from ancient times, 
are still in universal use ; the nation is characterized 



206 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

Dy a prevailing lethargy, as if struck with paralysis, 
that gives it an air of senility, and the stamp of decay 
and death. 

Christianity alone can impart that life and vigor to 
China which will enable her to throw off the incubus 
that has for ages pressed her down, and cause her to 
rise and take her place among civilized and enlightened 
nations, and enter upon a career of progress. 

There are others who say that " the heathen being 
ignorant, and living according to the light which they 
possess, are not guilty and will not be lost." But what 
are the facts ? Have not the heathen, — have not the 
Chinese,— a knowledge of the principles of moral law ? 
The Chinese are great moralists in their way, and de- 
pend upon morality for salvation from punishment. 
They have an endless number of moral maxims, which 
they apply on every proper occasion. For example, 
11 Punishment follows crime, as the shadow follows the 
substance." " We may conceal from man's eye, but not 
from Heaven's eye." " He who sins against Heaven, 
has no place for prayer." The readiness and correct- 
ness with which they wHl talk on moral subjects, and 
analyze moral character, and the earnestness with 
which they will condemn immoral conduct, show the 
moral " law written in their hearts." 

But do they live according to the light that they 
possess? Certainly not. Their own conscience "ac- 
cuses" them of doing wrong; and though its voice may 
be weaker in them than in those reared under the 
teachings of the Bible and amid Christian influences, 
still it makes itself heard. They are convinced of their 
sinfulness, and acknowledge it, and feel the need of 
some expiation of their guilt. Hence the numerous 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 207 

expedients to which they resort, in order to avoid the 
consequences of their sins. No, they cannot excuse 
themselves ; nor do they try to shield themselves with 
the excuses that some in Christian lands frame for 
them ; they never affirm that " they do not know right 
from wrong," — that " they are ignorant, hence inno- 
cent." When a Chinese performs an immoral act, if 
some heathen apologist should say to him, "you poor 
man, you did not know any better," he would take it as 
an insult. 

The Confucian ists, or literati, among whom we might 
expect a pure morality, if in any class, we find to be 
inveterately addicted to lying, treachery, and extortion. 
Among the rulers, all of whom are professed Confu- 
cianists, justice is unknown. Bribery, extortion, and 
oppression constitute the universal practice among the 
officials of every grade. 

Avariciousness sways the hearts of all classes, from 
the highest to the lowest. There is no mode of decep- 
tion and fraud, no trick nor art in trade, no quackery 
nor jugglery, in which the Chinese are not perfect 
adepts. Deception and lying are so common that they 
have almost lost the consciousness that they are wrong. 
Backbiting and quarreling, slandering and cursing, in- 
trigues and broils, are universal. Pilfering and theft ; 
extortion, robbery, and piracy ; suicide, infanticide, and 
murder; lotteries, gambling-shops, opium dens, and 
brothels, are very common. In short, the description 
given in Romans of the moral condition of the heathen 
is true to the letter as applied to the Chinese. 

Moreover, there is the great sin of idolatry, — a sin 
more frequently and severely condemned in the Bible 
than any other. Some have supposed that the Chinese 



208 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

are not much attached to idolatrous worship. This is a 
mistake. If they were not thoroughly wedded to their 
idols, they surely would not spend so much time and 
money upon them. Nearly two hundred million dol- 
lars are annually expended in China upon idolatrous 
feasts and worship. For a period of over three thou- 
sand years idolatry, from small beginnings, has gradu- 
ally been extending and strengthening its hold upon tha 
nation. It has grown with its growth, and strengthened 
with its strength, until it has permeated every part of 
it, and interwoven itself into the very frame-work and 
texture of society. It enters largely into the customs 
and habits of the people, and constitutes a marked fea- 
ture in all the more important transactions in life. It 
gives tone to every shade of religious belief and prac- 
tice. Every pursuit in life has its own patron god. 
Even thieves and pirates have their patron gods, whose 
aid they invoke. Idolatry binds the minds with strong 
fetters of superstition ; burdens them with a depressing 
dread of countless ills from fancied gods and evil spirits, 
besides the crushing weight of expense. Millions earn 
their living by manufacturing and vending shrines, 
idols, and other articles used in idolatrous worship. 
Their idolatry assumes a Protean form. The gods of 
their " three religions," Confucianism, Taouism, and 
Buddhism, are worshipped indiscriminately by all. 
Many never visit an idol-temple to worship, yet they 
worship the kitchen god, or the god of wealth, or 
the local god ; and all worship heaven and earth, 
and their ancestors. 

Now, how are the heathen to be saved without the 
gospel? While they will not be condemned for rejecting 
the gospel, which they have never heard, nor for 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 209 

disobeying the Bible, which they have never read, yet 
they will be condemned for disobeying the law of God 
" written in their hearts," and for not living according 
to the light which they possess. And while, like the 
inhabitants of Sodoia and Gomorrah, it will be more 
tolerable for them in the day of judgment than for 
those who have rejected the full blaze of the gospel's 
light, still it by no means follows that they will be ac- 
quitted as innocent and be saved. They have no inno- 
cence, no purity, no fitness for the pure abode of heaven 
and its holy and spiritual employments. 

Where then is there any hope for the hundreds of 
millions of heathen in China, in their present state? 
Missionaries do not go to that land to preach the gospel 
to poor innocents, over whom a fate is impending which 
they do not deserve. It is because they are deserving 
and exposed to everlasting perdition, that the gospel is 
preached to them, the only hope of salvation. And 
the command of Christ lays the obligation upon Chris- 
tians to make known the gospel to every one of those 
vast multitudes. 

5. In order to a more complete understanding of 
China as a mission-field, a brief review of its religious 
history will be necessary. 

In most ancient times the Chinese evidently had 
some knowledge of God, whom they designated 
" Heaven," and the " Supreme Ruler." Yet the heads 
of states, of tribes, and of families, constituted their 
only priests. In addition to the worship of " Heaven," 
they sacrificed to the " Six Honored Ones," which were 
probably the tutelary gods presiding over the more con- 
spicuous objects of nature; they also made offerings to 

the rivers and hills, to their ancestors, and to the host 
14 



210 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

of spirits. They also were very much given to the 
practice of divination. But their most ancient books 
are silent respecting rewards and punishments. 

Confucius, who nourished about 500 B. 0., founded 
his sj'stem upon the sayings and practices of the 
ancients. He edited and expounded some of their 
works, and wrote a history. The sayings and doings of 
Confucius himself were recorded by his disciples after 
his death. 

The ethical teachings of Confucius, consisted in incul- 
cating the " Five Virtues," and the duties pertaining to 
the " Five Relations " in life. The " Five Relations " 
were those subsisting between emperor and officer, 
father and son, husband and wife, older and younger 
brothers, and between friends. The " Five Virtues " 
were benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge, 
and faith. His moral precepts were good, and have 
had a very great, and in some respects beneficial influ- 
ence upon the nation. 

But his system has a few radical defects. He ignored 
a future state of rewards and punishments. He also 
taught that man's nature is naturally good, and that he 
may by his own exertions become holy. This false 
view of man's moral state, tends to foster pride and 
self-righteousness, and leads to the rejection of the 
scriptural doctrine of the new birth, and of the neces- 
sity of a Saviour to deliver from sin and its conse- 
quences. Confucius inculcated the worship of ancestors. 
This being regarded as the highest act and clearest 
proof of filial piety, a duty largely dwelt upon by the 
venerated sage, and by the whole class of moralists, 
and being also recognized by law, it is of all forms of 
religious worship in China, the most popular, the most 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 211 

venerated, and the most endeared to the hearts of the 
people. But the tendency of the practice of making 
offerings to the spirits of their ancestors, has heen to 
foster universal devil-worship. 

Confucius often spoke of " Heaven " in terms that 
can only be appropriately applied to a personal Deity. 
But his later expositors have interpreted " Heaven " to 
mean merely the material "heaven and earth;" they 
have deified cosmos, and thus by their pantheistic teach- 
ing, have obscured the ancient and Confucian idea of a 
11 Supreme Ruler." An atheistic philosophy was de- 
veloped, chiefly by Chufucius about the middle of the 
twelfth century, which is extensively held by the 
literary men of the present day. This philosophy at- 
tributes the existence and order of the universe to a 
self-existing, perpetually operating essence, guided by 
an eternal principle of right. The essence and princi- 
ple are indissolubly united, but are not spiritual in their 
nature, and are devoid of intelligence. The existence 
of spiritual beings, — whether men, gods, or evil-spirits, 
— is attributed to the same cause. Growth and decay, 
life and death, in short all the changes and vicissitudes 
that are transpiring in the universe, are produced by 
the oscillating operations of the essence described by 
Chinese writers as "motion and rest," " expanding and 
contracting," and designated by the " dual powers," the 
" male and female principles," the Yang and the Ying. 
Order and virtue exist in consequence of the controlling 
presence of the principle, while the operations of the 
essence are often lawless, overstepping the bounds which 
the principle of right prescribes, and producing moral 
evil, anarchy, and distress in the universe. Thus this 
philosophy dethrones the eternal Author and Sovereign 



212 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

of the universe ; subjects man to a blind fate ; tends to 
uproot all sense of moral accountability ; accommodates 
itself and gives license to the deepest depravity and 
wickedness ; gives scope to any amount of superstition ; 
and lays a foundation for the whole system of geornancy, 
and prognostication. The withering, benumbing, dead- 
ening influence which this system exerts upon the re 
ligious instincts and moral sensibilities, no one can 
realize unless brought into contact with consciences thus 
"seared," and the hearts thus rendered "hard as 
adamant." 

Buddhism was introduced into China from India, 
about A. D. 66. This system answers the wants of 
man's religious nature far better than Confucianism 
or the atheistic philosophy, inasmuch as it furnishes a 
full system of idolatrous worship and religious super- 
stition, and holds out future rewards and punishments, 
which, though of a gross and material character, are 
very impressive to ignorant minds. The system, how- 
ever, exerts but little moral restraint upon its adherents. 
Its ordinary worship is simple, requiring but slight 
mental or physical exertion, thus adapting itself to 
man's natural indolence as well as ignorance. Some of 
its feasts and rites are showy, and calculated to please 
and captivate the dark-minded and superstitious multi- 
tude. Its temples are costly and numerous ; its priests 
number over a million ; and, what has great influence 
with the Chinese, it is ancient, and its rites and super- 
stitious observances are long established and almost 
universal customs ; hence it is very popular among the 
masses of the people. 

Tauism originated with a Chinese philosopher, 
Lau-tze, who was born B. C. 604, hence was contemporary 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 213 

with Confucius. His great work was a "Treatise 
on Truth and Virtue," a very abstruse and transcei*- 
dental production. The Tauist system :-. matei 

tic, including an atheistic theory of the universe, and 
the so-called science of alchemy and astrology. It has 
been dignified by the term " rationalism," but a far 
more befitting title for it, as it now exists, is sorcery. Its 
devotees are much given to conjuration, necromancy, 
and devil-worship. They also, like the Buddhists, wor- 
ship numerous idols. The chief obstacles .vhich this 
Bf idolatry presents to the reception of the gospel, 
consist in the doubt which it tends to throw upon the 
testimony of prophecy and miracles, the inspiration of 
the prophets and apostles, and the divinity of Christ, 
and in the peculiar fascination which sorcery and magi- 
cal rites have over unenlightened minds. 

The above three religions of China are not cc: 
ered by the people a3 antagonistic sects, hence it is 
very common for the same persons to profess and per- 
form the rites and worship of them all. 

Of other religionists in China, the Mohammedar. 
most numerous. They began to come from Arabia as 
early as the seventh century. Their number has g: 
ally increased by emigration from Mohammedan states, 
and by natural descent, and not by proselytism. They 
are now found in all parts of the empire, have mosques 
in all the large cities, and number a population of :"rr 
a million. 

There is also at least one colony of Jews in China, at 
the city of Kai-fung in the province of Honan. They 
claim to have settled there at a period prior to the com- 
mencement of the Christian era, and number about 
three hundred persons. They have the law and some 



214 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

other portions of the Scriptures in Hebrew, but their 
last rabbi who could read the sacred language died about 
forty years since. Their ritual worship has ceased, cir- 
cumcision is neglected, their synagogue, built A. D. 
1183, has recently been pulled down and the timbers 
and stones sold ; and a few years will, not unlikely, put 
a period to their existence as a distinct people. 

Christianity in some of its forms, is no new thing in 
China. There is a strong probability, to say the least, 
that the gospel was preached in China, and churches 
founded, during the first century. According to the 
ritual of the Syrian churches on the Malabar coast and 
in Persia, the apostle Thomas himself preached the gos- 
pel and founded churches in China. Assemanus, a 
learned Syrian historian, maintains the same view. 
Mosheim says, " There are various arguments collected 
from learned men, to show that the Christian faith was 
carried to China, if not by the apostle Thomas, by the 
first teachers of Christianity." He also states that 
" Arnobius writing about the year 300, speaks of the 
Christian deeds done in India, and among the Seres, 
(Chinese,) Persians, and Medes." Chinese history also, 
make a clear reference to Christianity in China at this 
period. On the whole, the historic testimony is quite 
united and strong in favor of the view that Christian 
churches were established in China during the first 
century. 

As we come down to the sixth century, we find that 
the Nestorian Christians certainly had missions in China. 
It was in the year 552, according to Gibbon, that the 
11 two Persian (Nestorian) monks, who had long resided 
in China, brought the eggs of silk worms thence to 
Constantinople." Mosheim states that "from the 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 215 

Nestorian school at Nisibis (Persia) issued those who in 
the fifth and following century carried the Nestorian 
doctrines into Egypt, Syria, Arabia, India, Tartary, and 
even to China." 

In the seventh and eighth centuries the Nestorian 
missions in China were very flourishing. This we learn 
from an inscription upon a remarkable marble tablet, 
discovered A. D. 1625, in Sigan, the capital of the 
Shen-si province, and still to be seen there, which was 
erected A. D. 781. From this inscription it is evident 
that Christianity, as taught by the Nestorians, and of 
a much purer type than Eomanism, had made great 
progress among the Chinese ; the greatest prosperity 
occurring during the eighth century. It enjoyed the 
special favor and patronage of six or seven emperors of 
the Tang dynasty ; the Bible, or at least portions of it, 
was translated and was " in the library of the palace " ; 
churches were built and adorned, and priests were 
appointed and supported by the command and munifi- 
cence of the Chinese emperors ; many men occupying 
high official stations were the warm friends of the foreign 
missionaries, and the firm adherents and zealous sup- 
porters of the faith ; and converts, churches, and priests 
were numerous throughout the empire. 

Sixty-four years after the erection of the tablet, 
A. D. 845, persecution arose, and by an edict of the 
emperor, Wu-tsung, " the priests that came from Ta- 
tsin," (Syria), numbering no less than three thousand, 
were ordered to retire to private life. From this time, 
these missions appear to have declined. Still, foreign 
priests continued for several centuries occasionally to 
arrive, and churches continued to exist in various parts 
of the empire, until a fierce persecution arose that 



216 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

" scattered the Christians, and changed their place of 
worship into heathen temples." This occurred about 
the middle of the sixteenth century, when the churches 
had already become very corrupt and feeble. Since 
that time, it is not certainly known that a single Nes- 
torian church has existed in the empire. The Jesuits 
in the early part of the seventeenth century, found 
some traces of Nestorian Christians, but they were 
classed by the Chinese among the Mohammedans and 
Jews ; while the greater part had become idolaters. 
The benevolent and eleemosynary institutions of China, 
there can be little doubt, come from these missions, for 
the tablet speaks of distinguished native Christians 
" distributing alms, giving food to the hungry, clothes 
to those suffering from cold, and curing the sick," in 
"imitation of the Christian missionaries." 

Koman Catholic missions have also been in operation 
in China for a long period. Their first missions were 
commenced by the Dominicans and Franciscans, in 
1292, or nearly six hundred years since. They con- 
tinued till the expulsion of the Mongols from the throne 
of China, in 1368, when their missions were broken up, 
after having existed but seventy-six years. From this 
time, for a period of two hundred and thirteen years, 
we hear no more of Roman Catholic missions in China. 

But in the year 1581, the Jesuits commenced a 
mission. It continued to prosper for a period of one 
hundred and forty-three years, and many churches 
were established. Then, in consequence of the polit- 
ical intrigues of the Jesuits on the one hand, and the 
envy and suspicion of the Chinese officials and literati 
on the other, a fierce persecution arose. Since that 
time, the missions have suffered frequent severe perse- 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 217 

cutions ; but the missionaries have continued to prose- 
cute their work, through various prosperous and adverse 
fortunes, down to the present time. Their zeal and 
self-denial, their steadfastness and perseverance, amid 
persecution, torture, and death, merit high praise, and 
are worthy to be imitated by all missionaries of a 
purer faith. 

The statistics of Roman Catholic missions in China, 
in 1866, were as follows : Bishops 20 ; Colleges 12 ; 
Foreign Priests 233 ; Native Priest3 237 ; Native 
Christians 363,580. 

A Greek church, composed of twenty-five captive 
Russians, one of whom was a priest, was established at 
Peking, in 1685. In 1689, a treaty was formed be- 
tween the Russian and Chinese governments, which 
resulted in the permanent establishment of a college of 
Greek priests at the capital, usually composed of the 
Archimandrite, or head priest, who also acted as Rus- 
sian ambassador, a clergyman, a physician, a mathema- 
tician or astronomer, and eight or ten young Russians 
learning the Manchu and Chinese languages. They 
have not until recently sought to proselyte the natives 
to their faith. They have in Peking two churches, and 
between three and four hundred native converts. 

6. Protestant missions to the Chinese were com- 
menced in 1807. In that year, the Rev. Robert Mor- 
rison, of the London missionary society, began a 
mission at Canton. As China was not yet opened, and 
the East India Company, which then monopolized the 
trade with China, was opposed to missions, Mr. Morrison 
was not at liberty to preach openly ; but " he held 
secret meetings with a few natives in his own room, 
where with locked doors, he read and explained the 



218 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

gospels every Lord's Day." He labored alone for six 
years, and was then joined by the Rev. William Milne. 

Up to 1841, a period of thirty-five years, fifty-eight 
missionaries had joined the various missions, of whom 
only four came direct to Canton ; eight were stationed 
at Macao, a small peninsula near Canton, occupied by 
Portuguese ; the remaining forty-six were stationed 
among the Chinese settlements in the Malayan Archi- 
pelago. The missionaries studied the language ; con- 
ducted day and boarding-schools ; prepared and circu- 
lated a large number of tracts and Scriptures, in both 
the Chinese and Malay languages; and preached the 
gospel extensively to the people. 

T n 1842, when British cannon had opened the long 
closed gates of China, the missionaries, evidently feeling 
that their position in settlements out of China was un- 
favorable to their work, removed and established them- 
selves at the five treaty ports of China-proper. Mis- 
sionaries in greatly increased numbers entered the field, 
and with great zeal began to lay broad and deep the 
foundations of their future missions^ Lots, often with 
difficulty, were secured ; buildings were erected ; schools, 
dispensaries, printing establishments, and chapels were 
opened ; the colloquial dialects and the written lan- 
guage were acquired; and the gospel was faithfully 
proclaimed. Thus for eighteen years they labored at 
the five ports, and on the island of Hongkong, which 
had been ceded to England. 

By the treaties of 1860, secured by the second war, 
ten new ports were opened, chiefly on the river Yang- 
tze, and in the north of China. At most of these, mis- 
sions were soon established. Day and boarding-schools 
have been extensively maintained ; hundreds of native 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 219 

preachers have been raised up in training schools ; dis- 
pensaries and hospitals have been established at nearly 
all the ports, where more ihan one hundred thousand 
patients have annually been treated, and at the same 
time have been brought under the influence of the gos- 
pel ; five complete versions of the Bible and over seven 
hundred other treatises have been prepared and circu- 
lated in vast numbers. The Scriptures have been very 
extensively circulated, chiefly by sale, throughout fif- 
teen of the eighteen proyinces. But the preaching of 
the gospel has been the grand means employed, and not 
without encouraging success. 

In estimating success, the numerous obstacles to be 
overcome must be taken into account. The vast inert 
mass to be acted upon; the pride, self-conceit, and exclu- 
siveness of the people; their suspicions and prejudices 
against foreigners and everything foreign, intensified by 
the dissolute conduct of most foreigners who visit their 
shores, and by the pernicious opium traffic forced upon 
them ; their strong attachment to ancient and revered 
customs, and utter aversion to change ; their false re- 
ligions, their puerile superstitions, and abominable 
idolatries ; their sordid worldliness, inordinate love of 
money, and their grossly material views and aspirations 
both respecting this life and that to come; the igno- 
rance, depraved character, and vicious habits of the 
people ; added to these, the difficulties of the language, 
and the paucity of adequate terms to convey Christian 
ideas; — all these circumstances, if taken into ac- 
count, will give some idea of the obstacles in the way 
of the successful propagation of Christianity in that 
empire. 

The vast amount of preparatory labor necessary to be 



220 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

expended before extensive results can be attained, must 
also be taken into account in estimating success. Much 
labor spent in laying the foundations of missions in a 
heathen land, does not appear upon the surface. In 
China especially, it was slow and difficult' work to re- 
move the prejudices, the ignorance and superstitions of 
the people, which, like a vast pile of rubbish, had been 
accumulating for ages. And when Christianity has 
already overcome prejudice against foreigners and their 
religion ; when it has broken the spell of superstition, and 
hurled idolatry from its throne in the heart, its difficult 
work is but fairly begun. It must then encounter not 
only natures besotted, " dead in traspasses and sins," 
but also a tangled and luxurious growth of deep rooted 
vices. 

As was to be expected, the visible progress of the 
work, at first, was slow. The results, in conversions and 
gathering numbers in churches, were not immediately 
abundant. In consequence of this, and the want of a 
due regard to the preparatory labor necessary to be 
performed, and the numerous obstacles to be overcome, 
some prematurely and unwarrantably have affirmed that 
" Protestant missions in China are a failure." 

Happily we are now able to point to results of 
missionary labor in that most difficult field, which prove 
beyond all question that Protestant missions there are a 
success. The foundations of God's spiritual temple 
have there been laid, and the walls of the glorious 
superstructure are now beginning to appear. The 
region of country already occupied, embraces a large 
portion of the six provinces on the coast, extending 
from Canton and Hongkong in the south, to Kalgan, 
one hundred and fifty miles beyond Peking, in the 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 221 

north ; a region nearly two thousand miles in length by 
from one hundred to six hundred miles in breadth and 
containing an area of about four hundred thousand 
square miles, or a fourth part of China proper. Through- 
out this section, missions have been established in about 
forty walled cities and three hundred and sixty vil- 
lages, making a total of four hundred stations and out- 
stations, which constitute centres of Christian light and 
knowledge to the regions adjacent. Over four hun- 
dred native preachers have been raised up, who are 
constantly employed in preaching the gospel to their 
countrymen. About ten thousand converts have been 
received into the churches, of whom some have already 
gone home to be with Jesus, while some seven thousand 
are at present communicants. 

It is a cheering fact that the ratio of conversions, of 
out-stations, and of natives entering the ministry, is 
every year rapidly increasing. The number in all 
these departments has, of late, doubled once in a period 
of a little over three years. Should the same ratio of 
increase continue, we may reasonably expect that by 
the year 1900 the native Christians in China will num- 
ber over two millions. The following table will give 
some idea of the rate of progress : 

1853 1863 1864 1868 

Stations and Out-stations 26 108 130 306 

Native Preachers 59 141 170 365 

Native Christians 351 1974 2607 5743 

But mere statistics give a very inadequate view of 
the results of these missions. The incidental results 
are also important. Prejudices have been wearing 
away; confidence in the missionaries has increased; 
their peaceful and benevolent intentions are becoming 



222 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

widely acknowledged ; tens of thousands have had their 
confidence in their false gods and superstitions shaken ; 
much Christian knowedge has been diffused, which, like 
good seed sown in good ground, will ere long spring up 
and yield a bountiful harvest. 

There is one consideration, also, too important to be 
omitted ; that there are facilities for the evangelization 
of China, which in a measure, offset the obstacles. 
Though China merits the designation of being a hard 
mission field, still there are many circumstances which 
may be classed as favorable to the propagation of the 
gospel. First, we may mention facilities for travelling 
throughout the empire. True there are no railroads, 
and, except in the north of China, no wheel carriages 
nor carriage roads ; yet the facilities for travelling by 
water, are more complete than those of any other 
country. In addition to the numerous rivers and their 
tributaries, there are countless canals, forming a com- 
plete net-work of water communication over all the 
plains of the country. The missionary has but to step 
into a boat, taking with him his assistant, books, food, 
bed, and by a quiet and easy mode of conveyance, 
he is soon at any part of the field that he wishes to 
visit. The clanship of families, and the custom of 
living together in villages and cities, will also facilitate 
the spread of the gospel. The eminently social habits 
of the people will contribute to the same end, since what 
one person learns he soon communicates to others. The 
settled habits of the people constitute another circum- 
stance far more favorable to their evangelization than if 
they were roving, fickle, warlike tribes. Another 
facility is the universality of the written language. 
Though the spoken dialects are numerous and very 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 223 

diverse, the written language is the same throughout the 
empire ; so that the Scriptures and other books and 
tracts, when once printed, at any station, may be circu- 
lated everywhere, requiring no revision though carried 
to the most distant parts of the land, and even to several 
bordering countries. 

Closely connected with the above, is another advan- 
tage, that the views, objections, and characteristics to be 
met with are substantially the same throughout the em- 
pire ; hence the same arguments found best adapted to 
combat false doctrines, meet objections, and convince of 
the truth of Christianity, in one place, would be found 
equally useful in other parts of the empire. Again, 
the intelligence of the people upon moral subjects, as 
compared with more barbarous nations, constitutes a 
stepping-stone to their more ready acquaintance with 
the precepts of Christianity and when converted, to 
their more rapid progress in religious knowledge. 
Moreover, their religious instincts are on the side of 
Christianity. They feel themselves in some way amen- 
able to a power higher than men or gods. Something 
within them points to a future existence and future re- 
tributions, and they feel the need of some sure directory 
in all these matters, and some means by which their 
sense of guilt may be removed, and they may attain a 
happy state of future existence. The adaptation of 
Christianity to meet all these spiritural wants and 
religious aspirations of the soul, gives it an important 
vantage ground, and does not fail to commend it power- 
fully to the minds of even the heathen. 

But as the greatest obstacle to the propagation of 
Christianity in China is found in the depravity of the 
heart, so on the other hand, the greatest encouragement 



224 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

is found in the promises of God. One " Lo, I am with 
you," constitutes a surer guaranty of success, and af- 
fords more encouragement in the work than a thousand 
favorable circumstances. Still these facilities have 
their place, and when the Spirit shall be poured on 
the people from on high, and the word of the Lord 
shall have free course and be glorified, then these 
favoring circumstances no doubt will be found to greatly 
accelerate its progress. Owing to the denseness of the 
population, their tendency to move in masses, and to 
the facilities enumerated, we may reasonably expect 
that when the Chinese begin in earnest to "seek the 
Lord," the work of conversion will move forward with 
greater rapidity than has ever been witnessed in any 
other nation. 

7. And now, that which should greatly enhance the 
interest especially of American Christians in this field, 
is the fact that it is brought so near to them. The 
establishment of the Pacific mail steamship line, and 
the Pacific railroad, has revolutionized the relations of 
the foreign mission -field to the home churches. For- 
merly, in contemplating the foreign field, our attention 
was directed across the Atlantic toward the "great 
East ; " now, we are compelled by force of new cir- 
cumstances, to gaze westward ; beyond the " great 
West," across the broad Pacific, there looms in view, 
like Alps rising on Alps, a greater "West ; and here 
we find our great foreign mission field. Formerly, 
China was at the very "ends of the earth," too far 
away to awaken much interest ; now. the facilities for 
intercommunication have brought her almost to our very 
doors, and she is beginning to command our attention. 
Formerly, missionaries to China were about five months 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 225 

in reaching their field ; now, they can reach it m five 
weeks. Then, they had the discomforts of a long voyage 
" around the Cape " in a sailing vessel ; now, in a splen- 
did and comfortable M palace-sleeping-car " they cross 
the continent to San Francisco in a week, thence in a 
magnificent steamship, with every comfort that can be 
enjoyed at sea, they cross the Pacific and reach China 
in less than a month. 

In the Pacific railroad crossing the rugged Sierra 
Nevada and the lofty Rocky Mountains, have we not 
a striking fulfilment of that prophecy in Isaiah xlix. 11 : 
" I will make all my mountains a way, and my high- 
ways shall be exalted ? " Is not that road evidently 
God's " highway " for sending his word and his servants 
to Christianize the idolatrous nations of Asia? This 
view is confirmed by the next verse, H Behold, these 
shall come from far ; and lo ! these from the north, and 
from the west; and these from the land of Sinim." 
SinaB or Thinae was the ancient name of China, to which 
land the allusion of the prophet no doubt here refers. 
If this interpretation be correct, then this great high- 
way across the mountains has direct connection with 
the conversion of China to God. Is there no marked 
providence in thus bringing that old, exclusive, popu- 
lous, heathen nation so near our Christian land? Is 
there no significancy in the fact also, that China is pour- 
ing upon our shores her heathen population ? Is there 
no divine plan of mercy for the benighted multitudes of 
Asia, manifest in bringing the oldest and the newest 
empires into contact ; in the meeting of the eastern and 
the western courses of civilization ; in bringing Amer- 
ican enterprise to bear upon Chinese lethargy, and a 
living purifying Christianity to operate upon their 

15 



226 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

corrupt heathenism ? Is not the finger of God pointing 
Christians to the long neglected multitudes of China, 
and in effect saying : " Say not ye, there are yet four 
months, and then cometh harvest, behold, I say unto 
you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they 
are white already to harvest " ? 

Never has the Christian church in any previous pe- 
riod of her history, had so wide a door of usefulness 
opened, nor so great a demand upon her efforts and re- 
sources. Never before has any mission field invited the 
people of God to engage in an enterprize of such vast- 
ness and grandeur. 

The question now arises, will the disciples of Jesus, 
in view of these vast perishing multitudes now in tha 
providence of God rendered easily accessible, yield 
hearty obedience to his last great command ? Will the 
people of God go where he opens the way, and clearly 
points the road? Are they ready to follow " the pillar 
of cloud," and " the pillar of fire," whithersoever they 
may lead ? Will the churches of Christ take possession 
in his name, of the "goodly land" of China? 

Christians of happy, free America, to you in a most 
emphatic sense, is intrusted that which alone can meet 
the wants of those benighted millions of your fellow 
men. To you is committed the antidote for all their 
ills ; the light that can dispel their darkness ; and the 
only means which can secure them pardon, hope, holi- 
ness, and eternal salvation and happiness. To you it is 
granted richly to enjoy the gospel with its manifold 
blessings. Hence a correspondingly heavy responsibility 
is laid upon you to impart it to others. You are 
" debtors " to all those who are not similarly blessed. 
And how greatly is that debt increased by the abundant 



CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 227 

means and facilities placed in your hands for dissemi- 
nating the gospel. God is pouring wealth into your 
coffers for a higher purpose than selfish indulgence. To 
make this use of riches will bring leanness upon your 
own souls, and ruin upon your children, and eventually 
upon the churches and the nation. The ancient people 
of God were required to give for the various services of 
the Lord, nearly one-half of their entire income. In a 
more spiritual kingdom, under a dispensation of better 
promises, possessing far more means and a vastly en- 
larged field for benevolent labors, the people of God 
now are required to give in no stinted manner, but 
" every one " is regularly to give " as God hath pros- 
pered him." The establishment of Christ's kingdom on 
earth, occupies the first place in the divine counsels re- 
specting our world ; so also should it have the first place 
in the heart of every Christian, and in his plans, his 
business, and his use of the property over which God 
has made him steward. Learn then, Christians, highly 
favored of heaven, from the advantages that you enjoy, 
and the means confided to your trust, both your pe- 
culiar responsibility and your exalted privilege. 

Has that responsibility been fairly recognized re- 
specting the millions of China? It is true something 
has been done. Twenty-four missionary societies, of 
which one-third are in the United States, have over one 
hundred and sixty missionaries in that field, of whom 
\bout one hundred and forty are ordained. One or- 
daiaed missionary to some two million six hundred and 
fifty thousand inhabitants ! Is this what should be 
done by all Christendom to save the hundreds of millions 
of souls in China ? Why, opium-sellers from professedly 
Christian nations annually sell to Chinese over sixty 



228 CHINA AS A MISSION FIELD. 

million dollar's worth of the drug, and can show over 
three million of confirmed opium-inebriates, whom they 
have helped to ruin body and soul ! 

How little has been done for the salvation of China, 
compared with what remains to be done, and with the 
ability of Christians ! The labor hitherto has been 
shiefly preparatory. But the time has now arrived for 
putting forth direct efforts on a large scale, for the 
evangelization of the people. This enterprise demands 
targe views and plans ; a large amount of faith, prayer, 
eeal, and liberal giving, and a far greater number of 
laborers. Oh, Christian, does not the authority and 
love of Christ, the vast multitude and miserable con- 
dition of your fellow men in China, and the debt that 
you owe them, constrain you to employ all the ability 
with which God has endowed you, to give them the 
gospel, which alone is adapted to regenerate and save 
their souls ? 



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